Investors seek safe harbours

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 10:03

Source: Jamaica Gleaner
By Dennis Morrison, Contributor

While the news in Jamaica last week was dominated by the Manatt issue and will most likely continue for some time, some people might have been watching the looming financial crisis in Europe. Fear that it could become full-blown led to persisting volatility in financial markets worldwide. As last week ended, not even the announcement of a US$1 trillion rescue package designed to halt debt defaults by Europe's most fragile economies had served to dampen this volatility.

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Bangladesh: World Banks Sees Robust Economic Growth For Now

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 09:38

Bangladesh has maintained fiscal discipline despite recurring external economic shocks, natural disasters, and widespread poverty and social needs. Given a highly constrained revenue capacity, Bangladesh has allocated spending well to meet strategic priorities with healthy GDP growth.

"Growth in the next fiscal year hinges on remittances, easing of energy constraints, and pursuit of structural reforms. We expect GDP growth in the range of 5.5-6%. Achieving growth at the higher end of the range will require major efforts to address the country’s energy constraints,” said Sanjay Kathuria, Lead Economist for Bangladesh.

Read more: Bangladesh: World Banks Sees Robust Economic Growth For Now

EBRD downgrades Albania's 2010 GDP Growth

Monday, 17 May 2010 08:22

Albania is the one country in this sub-region that managed positive growth in 2009, but growth is likely to decrease in 2010, reflecting the impact of recent floods, a slowdown both in capital inflows and in remittances as well as slower credit growth. The country is particularly vulnerable to a serious Greek downturn, as the majority of remittances into Albania come from migrants in Greece, many of whom work temporarily in seasonal jobs states EBRD in its May 2010 economic outlook report.

EBRD has downgraded Albania's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast from 2.0 in January to 1.4 in May. The 2011 forecast is 3.1%  

Some S. Fla. day laborers say economy is improving

Monday, 17 May 2010 08:18

Some South Florida day laborers say the economy may be improving because more people are willing to hire them.

Just when day laborer César Jiménez thought he would be returning home empty-handed, he got lucky.

A red van drove up and picked up Jiménez, a Mexican migrant worker and a fellow day laborer for a day's work filling buckets with tomatoes at a nearby Homestead farm.

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Big Senders

Thursday, 13 May 2010 09:43

People all over the world are still traveling to other countries to find work, only the job opportunities aren't where they used to be.

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More Horrifying Economic Stats for Tajikistan - New Report

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 11:23

Living standards in Tajikistan, the former Soviet Union’s poorest country, are in free fall, says a study of socioeconomic indicators released last week.

For years, Tajik laborers – as many as a million of them, or half the work force – have migrated to Russia and Kazakhstan in search of work. At one point their remittances may have contributed up to half the country’s GDP. Though 87 percent of families report remittances have fallen, the report finds that migration remains a “key survival strategy” for one-third of Tajik families.

Read more: More Horrifying Economic Stats for Tajikistan - New Report