...

Gulf capital exports '15% of world total'

Business Materials 14 October 2007 11:15 (UTC +04:00)

Gulf states account for close to 15 per cent of global capital exports, as rich countries have become net capital importers, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report.

The Global Economic Outlook, to be published this week, contains warnings of imbalances in global capital flows. According to its Global Financial Stability Report, in recent years there has been an extraordinary increase in global financial integration, resulting in increased cross-border fund flows.

While China tops the list of capital exporters with 17.3 per cent, oil exporting countries from the Gulf such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar together account for close to 15 per cent.

The IMF will officially release both its Global Financial Stability Report and Global Economic Outlook on October 17 and 18, respectively.

In the reports, the IMF has expressed concern over the growing imbalances in cross-border capital flows.

According to IMF econ-omists, global capital flows remain upside down, flowing from poor countries to the rich rather than vice versa. Of the total net capital inflow in the world in 2006, almost 60 per cent was soaked up by the US and 20 per cent by four other rich countries - Spain, Britain, Italy and Australia.

Among the traditionally rich countries only Japan and Germany, with 11.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent share, contributed significantly to global capital exports.

Most Asian countries with their bulging foreign exchange reserves and domestic savings are becoming net capital exporters.

The IMF does not see any potential economic imbalance in emerging econ-omies becoming capital exporters, but sees signs of trouble in excessive capital flows into emerging markets. According to its estimates, during the first half of 2007 capital inflows into emerging markets far exceeded those in the whole of 2006.

"Of more pressing immediate concern is the fact that capital is currently flowing to many countries regardless of whether they are ready to receive it," said Simon Johnson, economic counsellor and director of research at the IMF. "There are large current-account surpluses among emerging markets [a big change from 1997, when most emerging markets had deficits]. Indeed, several large oil exporters and Asian manufacturing exporters will have sizable surpluses for as long as we can forecast."

"We think that capital from these countries is increasingly flowing not so much 'uphill' to developed countries [as it did over the past five years], but rather 'around the hill' to other emerging markets and poorer developing countries.

Break-up: US soaks up nearly 60% of fund inflow

While China tops the list of capital exporters with a 17.3 per cent share.

Of all net capital inflow in the world in 2006, almost 60 per cent was soaked up by the US and 20 per cent by four other rich countries: Spain, Britain, Italy and Australia.

Among the traditionally rich countries only Japan and Germany, with 11.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent share, contributed significantly to the global capital exports. ( Gulf )

Latest

Latest