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Emerging markets weathering the storm

Business Materials 20 November 2007 07:07 (UTC +04:00)

Emerging economies have shown remarkable resilience in the face of the recent global credit squeeze, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, said on Monday.

"We consider it remark-able the way that emerging market economies are behaving in present circumstances," said Mr Trichet, speaking as chairman of the Group of 10 central bankers. "All participants in the discussions considered that these emerging-market economies appear to be very solid, very resilient, in a period when you have on- going market correction in the industrialised world."

Mr Trichet's remarks capped a three-day series of meetings of economic policymakers who convened in Cape Town for the Group of 20 (G20) summit followed by the Group of 10 meeting.

The G20 was established in 1999 in the wake of the financial crises among the east Asian "tiger economies" in the late 1990s as developed countries sought a forum that policymakers from advanced and emerging economies could use to prevent such troubles in future.

This time, however, the threat of recession has originated in the world's most developed financial markets.

Mr Trichet said that market turbulence was one ­factor that led the G10 central bank governors - from countries that include the US, UK and Germany - to conclude that "the balance of risks are on the downside" for the global economy.

He said risks to the global economy included "further oil and commodity price rises, as well as food price rises", a significant market correction related to the US subprime mortgage crisis, and a "possible widening of global imbalances". ( FT )

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