-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Newsgroups: usa-today.money,alt.politics.economics Date: Thursday, December 03, 1998 6:22 PM Subject: World Bank Economic Forecast > > >December 2, 1998 > >The World Bank (Wednesday) says the Asian financial and economic crisis is >having a profound negative impact on economic performance in most developing >countries. The big international lender says developing countries overall are >growing less than half as fast as they did in 1997. > >World Bank economists say even countries not directly hit by the crisis are >suffering from the trauma that erupted in East Asia 18-months ago. World Bank >Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz says because Asia is in recession, commodity >prices are collapsing and exports of developing countries are down. > >Mr. Stiglitz says developing countries are affected in several ways. > >"One of them is this huge terms-of-trade effect. So a country like Chile, >they may be pursuing very good economic policies, but if the price of copper >falls it is going to be adversely affected. The oil-exporting countries, >regardless of whether they were pursuing good economic policies -- and some >were good and some bad -- have been very, very badly affected. > >Because oil prices are so low, the World Bank says per-capita incomes in the >Middle East and North Africa have fallen this year. Per-capita incomes are >also down in sub-Saharan Africa. Because Russia's economy has gone into deep >recession, there is no growth this year in per-capita incomes in Eastern >Europe and the former Soviet Union. > >World Bank economist Milan Brahmbhatt says it is the poor in East Asia who >are suffering most. Mr. Brahmbhatt says in several countries, years of >progress in alleviating poverty have been lost. > >"As is too often the case, the collapse of economic activity is having its >most dramatic impacts on the poor. Unemployment in Indonesia, Korea, and >Thailand is expected to triple, while the number falling below poverty could >reach 25- million in Indonesia and Thailand alone." > >The World Bank says there is some risk that the world economy could slip into >recession next year. The bank says the Asian crisis was caused by the huge >inflow and then sudden outfloow of short-term capital. The bank says since >the onset of the crisis (in mid-1997) 100-billion dollars have been withdrawn >from South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. > >Global Investing News at >http://www.cyberhaven.com/globalinvesting/ > > >-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- >http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
