Agence France-Presse . Paris
Russia’s conflict with Georgia has not impacted foreign investment,.jpg)
the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, said in an interview published Saturday, adding that high inflows could fuel inflation. ‘For me there is no effect of the Caucasus crisis on foreign investment in Russia,’ he told France’s Le Figaro newspaper. ‘The year 2007 was positive with an inflow of 81 billion dollars (57 billion euros), this year the figure will be around 45 billion dollars,’ he said, stressing that too much overseas investment could actually have a negative effect. ‘To tell the truth we don’t need more as this would increase our liquidity too much and could even fuel inflation,’ he said. The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, on Friday said the recent plunge in Russian stocks was in part caused by last month’s war with Georgia but was mostly due to the global credit crisis. Medvedev told Western foreign experts at a meeting in Moscow that ‘the consequences of the war in the Caucasus’ accounted for a quarter of the loss in value, while the rest was due to the global financial crisis.’
Eurozone industrial output slumps in July: EU statistics Agence France-Presse . Brussels
Eurozone industrial production fell 0.3 per cent in July, official Eurostat figures showed Friday, providing more evidence that the bloc is teetering on the edge of a recession. The July figures marked a third successive decline while on a 12-month basis industrial output fell 1.7 per cent in the 15-nation eurozone. Economists had expected the measure to slip 0.3 per cent on the month but just 0.6 per cent on the year, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The news came as eurozone finance ministers, meeting in southern France, ruled out a sweeping stimulus plan to ward off a recession but gave themselves some wiggle room on extra spending. The ministers agreed that Europe would not follow in the footsteps of the United States and Japan with an ambitious stimulus package. The European Commission warned on Wednesday that Europe was teetering on the brink of a technical recession, which economists define as two consecutive quarters of contraction. After the 15-nation eurozone economy contracted 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, the European Union’s executive arm estimated that it would be at a standstill in the third quarter. The commission cut its eurozone growth estimate for the whole of 2008 to 1.3 per cent from a forecast of 1.7 per cent given in April, marking an even sharper slowdown from the solid 2.6 per cent growth recorded last year. For the 27 EU nations as a whole, Eurostat also put industrial production for July down 0.3 per cent, with the 12-month decline at 1.3 per cent. Weakness was seen practically across the board in July, with only the energy sector, still buoyant from high oil prices, achieving a month-on-month increase. ‘While the recent retreat in the euro and oil prices will obviously benefit eurozone manufacturers, we believe that they will continue to find life difficult over the coming months as they are buffeted by slowing domestic demand, muted activity in key export markets and tight lending conditions,’ said Howard Archer, chief European economist at London-based Global Insight. ‘Furthermore, oil prices are still relatively elevated, as is the euro.’ In separate figures, Eurostat showed eurozone and EU employment rose 0.2 per cent in the second quarter after a 0.3 per cent gain in the first. This reading added to ‘the mounting evidence that markedly weaker eurozone economic activity and depressed business confidence is taking an increasing toll on labour markets,’ said Archer. Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist for Capital Economics, was a little more upbeat, with the data holding up better than might be expected. ‘The latest eurozone figures on industrial production and employment are soft but not as weak as they might have been,’ he said. ‘With other sectors like construction likely to rebound, there is still a chance that the region avoids another fall in GDP, and hence recession, in the third quarter,’ he said. Overall, not great but not dreadful either.’
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the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, said in an interview published Saturday, adding that high inflows could fuel inflation. ‘For me there is no effect of the Caucasus crisis on foreign investment in Russia,’ he told France’s Le Figaro newspaper. ‘The year 2007 was positive with an inflow of 81 billion dollars (57 billion euros), this year the figure will be around 45 billion dollars,’ he said, stressing that too much overseas investment could actually have a negative effect. ‘To tell the truth we don’t need more as this would increase our liquidity too much and could even fuel inflation,’ he said. The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, on Friday said the recent plunge in Russian stocks was in part caused by last month’s war with Georgia but was mostly due to the global credit crisis. Medvedev told Western foreign experts at a meeting in Moscow that ‘the consequences of the war in the Caucasus’ accounted for a quarter of the loss in value, while the rest was due to the global financial crisis.’Eurozone industrial output slumps in July: EU statistics Agence France-Presse . Brussels
Eurozone industrial production fell 0.3 per cent in July, official Eurostat figures showed Friday, providing more evidence that the bloc is teetering on the edge of a recession. The July figures marked a third successive decline while on a 12-month basis industrial output fell 1.7 per cent in the 15-nation eurozone. Economists had expected the measure to slip 0.3 per cent on the month but just 0.6 per cent on the year, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The news came as eurozone finance ministers, meeting in southern France, ruled out a sweeping stimulus plan to ward off a recession but gave themselves some wiggle room on extra spending. The ministers agreed that Europe would not follow in the footsteps of the United States and Japan with an ambitious stimulus package. The European Commission warned on Wednesday that Europe was teetering on the brink of a technical recession, which economists define as two consecutive quarters of contraction. After the 15-nation eurozone economy contracted 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, the European Union’s executive arm estimated that it would be at a standstill in the third quarter. The commission cut its eurozone growth estimate for the whole of 2008 to 1.3 per cent from a forecast of 1.7 per cent given in April, marking an even sharper slowdown from the solid 2.6 per cent growth recorded last year. For the 27 EU nations as a whole, Eurostat also put industrial production for July down 0.3 per cent, with the 12-month decline at 1.3 per cent. Weakness was seen practically across the board in July, with only the energy sector, still buoyant from high oil prices, achieving a month-on-month increase. ‘While the recent retreat in the euro and oil prices will obviously benefit eurozone manufacturers, we believe that they will continue to find life difficult over the coming months as they are buffeted by slowing domestic demand, muted activity in key export markets and tight lending conditions,’ said Howard Archer, chief European economist at London-based Global Insight. ‘Furthermore, oil prices are still relatively elevated, as is the euro.’ In separate figures, Eurostat showed eurozone and EU employment rose 0.2 per cent in the second quarter after a 0.3 per cent gain in the first. This reading added to ‘the mounting evidence that markedly weaker eurozone economic activity and depressed business confidence is taking an increasing toll on labour markets,’ said Archer. Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist for Capital Economics, was a little more upbeat, with the data holding up better than might be expected. ‘The latest eurozone figures on industrial production and employment are soft but not as weak as they might have been,’ he said. ‘With other sectors like construction likely to rebound, there is still a chance that the region avoids another fall in GDP, and hence recession, in the third quarter,’ he said. Overall, not great but not dreadful either.’
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