Dodgy money is once again leaving emerging markets in large quantities: illicit flows out of 71 developing economies were worth $859bn in 2010, up from $776bn a year earlier. The latest figures is only slightly less than the all time high of $871bn recorded in 2008.
That is the conclusion of a report published this week by Global Financial Integrity and funded by the Ford Foundation Continue reading »
The conventional wisdom for the past six months has been that south-east Asia is pretty much the last man standing in the global economy.
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore have delivered decent growth, thanks to strong domestic demand and, even as the eurozone crisis and China’s deceleration have buffeted them.
But the region may be starting to slow. Continue reading »
After something of a recovery in 2011, European trade is set for a rocky year if trade finance indicators are anything to go by.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has published a report showing that the upturn of 2010 in trade finance continued into early 2011 – but the gloom is set to return in 2012, “bringing back the fear that recovery felt in early 2011 might have been short-lived.” Continue reading »