Real GDP for the first quarter was revised up this morning, reflecting slightly higher growth in personal consumption, private investment, and government expenditures than previously estimated. The small first-quarter decline in overall GDP was driven by a number of factors including harsh winter weather and tepid foreign demand. However, the combination of consumption and investment—the […]
The Government today announces that Australia will become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The decision comes after extensive discussions between the Government, China and other key partners around the world. There is an estimated infrastructure financing gap of around US$8 trillion in the Asian region over the current decade. The […]
Good evening! I am absolutely delighted to participate again in this prestigious conference, and I would like to thank Vice Premier Reynders for his kind introduction. Last month, on May 6th, I almost choked on my morning yoghurt when I saw the front page of a leading business newspaper. There it was – a league […]
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service joined today with representatives of tax preparation and software firms, payroll and tax financial product processors and state tax administrators to announce a sweeping new collaborative effort to combat identity theft refund fraud and protect the nation’s taxpayers. The agreement — reached after the project was originally announced March […]
Press Conference: Reimagining Africa’s Future: A blueprint for sustainable business Press Conference: Reimagining Africa’s Future: A blueprint for sustainable business Accenture and the NBI recently conducted a study titled: “Reimagining Africa’s Future: A blueprint for sustainable business”. In this session, they will unpack and discuss how businesses in Africa can deliver $350bn a year in […]
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 280,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and health care. Mining employment continued to decline. Household Survey Data In May, both the unemployment rate […]
Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest overall economic activity expanded during the reporting period from early April to late May. Activity in the Richmond, Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Francisco Districts was characterized as growing at a moderate pace, while the New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis Districts cited modest growth. Contacts in the […]
Global growth will gradually strengthen towards its pre-crisis trend rate by late 2016 as activity becomes more evenly shared across the major economies and overall external imbalances are less marked than in the run-up to 2007, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook. Labour markets are gradually healing in the advanced economies and risks of […]
BRUSSELS, —Economic growth is expected to continue to pick up across Europe, from zero in 2013 and 1.3 percent in 2014, to 1.8 percent and 2.0 percent in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Central and eastern European countries (EU-CEE) will continue to grow above the European average, with growth expanding over 2.4 percent in 2015, based […]
The West Bank and Gaza will need policy discipline and donor support in the short run, but a new financing model will be essential over the medium term for sustained private-sector-led growth, the IMF says. The Gazan economy is struggling to rebuild in the wake of the violent conflict last summer that resulted in losses […]
