China’s State Council’s Information Office opened a “China Library” in Tanzania’s capital of Dar es Salaam on Monday, as part of a “cultural exchange” between the two nations aimed at helping “Tanzanian people to learn about Chinese history and reality.”
Events and meetings taking place within the European Union are expected to set the tone for global markets this week. In particular, speculation is rife about Spain’s formal bailout request. Over in Asia, China has called off all commemorative events marking the 40th anniversary of normalisation of bilateral ties with Japan.
Monday, September 24
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has pledged to increase the transparency of the bank, suggesting yesterday that he was open to the idea of publishing minutes from its monetary policy meetings sooner rather than later.
According to a report that appeared on the Wall Street Journal yesterday, “publishing a record of ECB governing council meetings would make clear the degree of dissent among the 23-member board”.
A US Senate committee has alleged that technology giants Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard avoided billions in US taxes over the past three years by transferring profits to offshore jurisdictions.
According to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, several US multinational companies have exploited the current tax system to “engage in gimmicks to avoid paying taxes they owe.”
China is already the world’s second largest economy but its currency, the renminbi, is barely traded internationally. Unlike reserve currencies such as the US dollar, and despite China’s emerging position as a global economic powerhouse, the Chinese currency is hardly used in international trade and scarcely held by foreigners. This is gradually changing but the City of London is probably being optimistic if it thinks it can grab a significant portion of that trade.
America’s super high net worth individuals saw their net worth grow by 13 percent in the past year to $1.7 trillion, according to Forbes annual wealth survey. Collectively, their wealth and assets are equivalent to Bhutan’s 2011 gross domestic product.
At the same time, the average net worth of the 400 wealthiest Americans rose to a record $4.2 billion, up more than 10 percent from a year ago, while the lowest net worth came in at $1.1 billion versus $1.05 billion last year, said Forbes.
The number of Asian millionaires surpassed that of North America’s for the first time ever last year, said a report by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management on Wednesday, though their combined wealth shrank slightly amid the global economic downturn caused by the eurozone crisis.
In 2011, Asia was the home to 3.37 million high net-worth individuals (HNWI), compared with 3.35 million in North America and 3.17 million in Europe.
A senior advisor to the Chinese government has called on authorities to impose “tough measures” on Japan, such as sanctions and bond market manipulation, so as to force Tokyo to reverse its decision to nationalise the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.
Indonesia could soon surpass Germany and the United Kingdom to become the world’s seventh largest economy, generating $1.8 trillion in annual gross domestic product, according to a recent report by McKinsey and Co.
Indonesia, a secular state, has the world’s fourth largest population and the world’s 16th largest economy. In terms of production, 55 percent of its population produces almost three-quarters of the country’s $837 billion economy.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke launched QE3 last week, a move that would see monthly bond purchases worth $40 billion carried out alongside Operation Twist. At the same time, Bernanke promised to undertake additional purchases and employ other monetary tools “if the outlook for the (US) labour market does not improve substantially”. How will this affect the US and other global markets?
