Excellent interview by internationally renowned tax expert, Francoise Hendy, with IFC.
Blog
-
WTO predicts weak global trade growth in 2016
Alicia Nicholls
“Trade is still registering positive growth, albeit at a disappointing rate.” This is according to the World Trade Organisation’s Director-General Roberto Azevedo in the WTO’s latest Trade Statistics and Outlook released this afternoon. In its latest report, the WTO has significantly revised its forecast of global trade growth in 2016 to 2.8%, down from its forecast of 3.9% in September 2015. This is disconcerting news for Caribbean countries as weaker global demand also impacts demand for Caribbean exports.
2015 performance
According to the WTO, the projected expansion of global trade at 2.8% in 2016 would be same rate at which global trade grew in 2015. In what was described as a tumultuous year for global trade on account of weak global demand, 2015 saw trade declines in developing and developed countries in the second quarter of 2015 and a rebound in the final half of the year. South America saw the lowest growth in imports in 2015 as Brazil’s recession dampened demand for imports.
The WTO did not provide any data for the Caribbean’s 2015 performance in its report. However, recently published data from the Barbados Statistical Service showed, for example, that though Barbados’ total merchandise exports from January-December 2015 increased year on year by $17.1 million or 1.8% over 2014, this export growth was limited to a robust 16.6% increase in re-exports whilst domestic merchandise exports actually fell by 8.8%.
2016 forecast
Though projected trade growth remains positive, WTO economists have noted that the rate of global trade growth remains below the average global trade growth rate of 5% since 1990. This year’s forecast would also make it five consecutive years that global trade would have grown at almost the same rate as global GDP, as opposed to twice as fast. The report also notes that despite the growth in trade volumes, the dollar value of trade fell 13% in 2015 due to falling commodities prices and exchange rate volatility.
According to the WTO’s Report, Asia will lead global export growth in 2016 at 3.4% growth, followed by North America and Europe, which are both estimated to see a 3.1% increase in their exports. For South and Central America, Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East, the picture is not as rosy, with imports expected to contract (albeit lower) due to low oil and commodities prices. WTO economists predict that while exports from developed countries are expected to grow around the same rate (2.9% in developed countries and 2.8% in developing), developed economies imports are projected to grow faster (at 3.3%) than developing countries’ imports (at 1.8%) in 2016.
Noting that “risks to the trade forecasts remain tilted to the downside”, the WTO highlighted the slowdown in the Chinese economy, the worsening volatility in financial markets, exposure of countries with high levels of foreign indebtedness to sharp exchange rate movements and declining business and consumer confidence in developed countries which could lead to slower GDP growth in the EU and US in 2016.
At the same time, the WTO has also suggested that more accommodative monetary policy of the European Central Bank could promote growth in the Euro area and encourage demand for goods and services. The WTO also highlighted the threat of “creeping protectionism” due to the growth in trade restrictive measures. The good news is that global trade growth is expected to pick up in 2017 to 3.6%.
These are developments which the Caribbean should continue to monitor closely, particularly the developments in the US and EU, our major trading partners, as well as China which has become a leading development partner for the region. The drop in oil prices has negatively affected oil exports from Trinidad & Tobago and its economy is currently in recession. Commodities exporter Suriname has also faced hard times due to the low commodities prices.
The full press release may be accessed here
Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is a trade and development consultant with a keen interest in sustainable development, international law and trade. You can also read more of her commentaries and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.
-
Inaugural Africa Regional Integration Index Launched
Alicia Nicholls
“ The Vision of the African Union is to
become an integrated, prosperous and
peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens
and representing a dynamic force in the
global arena.”
African Union Agenda 2063In a not insignificant milestone in the thrust towards a united African continent, the African Union Commission, along with the African Development Bank (AfDB),and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), launched the inaugural Africa Regional Integration Index last Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during Africa Development Week.
Recognising that integration is key for securing prosperity and development for the continent’s peoples and promoting economic growth, the African Union has made it no secret that it plans to deepen the continent’s integration imperative, with plans for a continental free trade area by 2017. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 “sets out the vision for Africa’s integration path over the next 50 years” and is complemented by the Regional Integration Policy and Strategy (2014-2023) developed by the African Development Bank Group.
However, significant data gaps on the current levels of integration and their impact on countries within the continent exist. The inaugural African Regional Integration Index 2016 aims to remedy this lacuna by providing a monitoring and evaluation mechanism, with the concomitant aim of facilitating evidence-based regional policy making.
The current report focuses on the member countries of the 8 regional economic communities (RECs) recognised by the African Union: Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN–SAD), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).
The analysis is based on five dimensions (regional infrastructure, trade integration, financial and macroeconomic integration, productive integration and free movement of people) and 16 indicators.
Findings
The report shows that the EAC (consisting of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda) has the highest level of integration among the RECs and “has higher than average scores
across each Dimension of Regional integration, except for financial and macroeconomic integration”. Overall, it found that trade integration had the highest scores while financial and macroeconomic integration had the lowest. Another interesting finding was that the biggest economies, such as Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria, were not among the best integrated.In his foreword to the report, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Erastus Mwencha,noted that
Findings show that while progress is being made, with 28 high
performing countries across the eight Regional Economic Communities, average
integration scores stand at below half of the scale. It is time for Africa to build on this
and drive regional integration ever further forward.African integration still has a long way to go and many of the challenges facing Africa in its integration efforts are not dissimilar to those we share in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). For instance, similar to CARICOM, Africa countries’ major trading partners are not each other but are external. Intra-African trade currently constitutes around 12% of total African trade, lagging behind other regional groupings. A myriad of logistical and other challenges have served as barriers to intra-African trade and a continental FTA would be a solution to removing many of these barriers.
I believe this index initiative is a laudable step, even more so that the results have been made available to the public. To know where one needs to go, one needs to know where one stands and the empirical data contained in this stocktaking report are an important first step in both measuring and monitoring the pace and impact of integration on the countries included and should serve as a basis on which reforms and policy decisions concerning the region can be made. It is something which we in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), whose experimentation with integration predates Africa’s, should consider emulating as we seek to reform our own integration process.
The full report may be accessed here.
Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is a trade and development consultant with a keen interest in sustainable development, international law and trade. You can also read more of her commentaries and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.
-
Correspondent Banking concerns raised in IMF’s Staff Report on Belize
Alicia Nicholls
Though noting that the termination of major correspondent banking relationships with Belizean banks has so far had a limited impact on that country’s financial system and economic activity, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest staff report on Belize pursuant to its Article IV consultations agreed that the “recent termination of corresponding banking relationships with Belizean banks and banks in many other countries could have a significant impact on financial stability and economic activity in the affected countries.”
Belize is one of the few Caribbean countries, whose government still sees it fit to allow the IMF Article IV staff reports to be publicly available. Belize has been at the forefront of efforts by Caribbean governments to raise awareness about the havoc the loss of correspondent banking relationships due to international banks’ de-risking practices could have on the economies of the Region, including on their trade, investment and remittance inflows.
Last year, Bank of America, one of the largest US banks, terminated its correspondent banking relationship with Belize Bank. The IMF staff report noted that this had had a limited impact on the financial system as new arrangements were able to have been put in place with the help of the Central Bank and major credit card companies. However, among the downside risks which could affect their baseline outlook, the IMF noted that “other banks could also lose their CBRs with global banks with severe impact on international financial transactions”.
IMF directors “urged the authorities regulating international banks that are terminating correspondent banking relationships to better clarify their expectations of how these international banks should deal with local banks they perceive as “high risk””.
The IMF staff lauded Belize’s AML/CFT reform efforts, noting that “the deficiencies identified by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in 2011 have been mostly addressed”. They did, however, stress that “important reforms are still needed to ensure compliance and effective implementation of Belize’s AML/CFT regime in line with the 2012 FATF standard”.
In regards to Belize’s overall macroeconomic position, the IMF highlighted the recent improvement in economic activity. However, they noted that “Belize’s economic outlook is characterized by sluggish growth, weak fiscal stance, and external and financial sector vulnerabilities”. Though predicting that growth over the short-to-medium term would hover around 2.5 percent, they noted that excess spending could cause the fiscal outlook to worsen. They also expect public debt to increase to “unsustainable levels” in excess of 100 percent of GDP in 2016.
The full IMF Staff Report on Belize may be accessed here.
Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is a trade and development consultant with a keen interest in sustainable development, international law and trade. You can also read more of her commentaries and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.
Caribbean Trade Law and Development 