As most people look forward with hope to the potential of a new year, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, warned of a disappointing global economic outlook.
Two mortgage firms largely under government control create a new financial instrument similar to those that caused the global financial crisis of 2008. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage loan companies that provide government-guaranteed mortgages to American homebuyers, announced a new financial instrument that it hopes would offset risks in the financial market.
Both firms, which are government-sponsored enterprises, are producing two new derivative instruments based on collected mortgages that will theoretically reduce risk to American taxpayers.
The Saudi monarchy plans to overproduce oil to maintain market-share, but the state will have to make cuts to compensate for the supply glut, according to Arabian Business. The government will lower government projects to 840 billion riyals in 2016, a step back from the 975 billion riyals seen from 2015, and it will slash 15 percent of the 2015 GDP. Authorities will also increase prices for such necessities as fuel and water.
The US Senate recently agreed to changes to the International Monetary Fund’s voting rights. This ratification redistributed voting rights to give emerging economies a bigger role in the affairs and policy decisions of the international lender. Thanks to these reforms, China’s stake in the IMF’s affairs increased by almost 60 percent.
A hotly contentious issue that has driven rage and anger across the Sea of Japan is closer to being resolved after Japan and South Korea agreed on a settlement.
Japan will pay World War II’s victims of sex slavery—known as “comfort women”— a total of $8.3 million, or 1 billion yen, which will go to the 46 still-living victims. It is unclear if the South Korean government will give all of those funds directly to victims—or takes the funds for themselves, as it did half a century ago.
French politicians were taken aback when Corsican nationalists won December regional elections by a landslide, according to AFP. The Corsican public has long expressed frustration with such issues as a downtrodden economy, lack of autonomy, and North African immigration.
Corsica’s unemployment rate stands at 11 percent, slightly higher than France’s national average, and youth unemployment remains high. Corsica is an island off the coast of Italy, but annexed by France in 1768.
A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has made some interesting findings about the pedigrees of doctors and nurses in Europe. As it turns out, a great number of these medical professionals came from India. In fact, India has been identified as the largest exporter of doctors and nurses to Europe.
A financial institution specializing in student loans received a fine as well as orders to cease operations for lying to students about fees and costs associated with their offerings.
Vietnam’s economy grew at its fastest pace in five years due to such factors as record foreign investment and strong domestic demand, according to AFP. The government recorded 6.68 percent expansion for the year, surpassing expectations of 6.2 percent. The World Bank also predicts that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) could add up to 8 percent to Vietnam’s GDP over the next 20 years.
The World Bank has released its December 2015 report titled “Toward a More Business Friendly Tax Regime: Key Challenges in South Asia.” In it, the World Bank warns that Pakistan’s tax rate is unusually high, particularly for a nation in a developing region. In fact, it is the third highest rate in the world.
