Moody's: Africa's mobile phone banking boom to support economic growth and banks' expansion

Feb 08, 2016 08:58 am UTC| Research & Analysis Economy

The fast growth of mobile phone banking across Africa has driven an increase in access to financial services and has the potential, with time, to boost economic growth and create opportunities for banks to expand across...

Currency War Series

Demand driven inflation out of reach of BOJ as wage growth subdued

Feb 08, 2016 08:43 am UTC| Commentary Economy Central Banks

Bank of Japan (BOJ) ambitious easing has so far failed to achieve targeted inflation path as consumers have scaled back their purchase after sales tax hike of 2% and now latest earnings data released today, show that...

US trade deficit widens in December, strong dollar and weak foreign growth likely to drag growth

Feb 08, 2016 06:24 am UTC| Commentary Economy

US recorded trade deficit of $43.4bn in December, on par with Barclays forecast of $43.5bn and consensus expectations of $43.2bn. In December, nominal goods exports dropped 0.6% m/m, as compared with the earlier estimate...

Why raising the minimum wage isn't the best way to reduce inequality

Feb 07, 2016 15:58 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Walmart is giving more than one million of its employees a raise later this month as part of a plan that will lift all but its newest hires to at least US$10 an hour. The move, first announced last year, follows an...

China Crisis Series

China sets growth target of 6.5%-7% for 2016

Feb 05, 2016 08:01 am UTC| Commentary Economy

China has stated that it has set up 2016 growth target range of 6.5%-7% after a 2015 target of around 7% growth. The lower end of 6.5% shows the growths minimum average rate required to meet in the next five years to...

How do we know if we're in a global recession?

Feb 04, 2016 12:05 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Since the start of this year, stock markets around the world have fallen as panicked investors have begun believing that the world is slipping into economic malaise. This fear has also driven down prices of commodities...

Emerging Market Crisis Series

Will Emerging Markets benefit from a cautious Fed?

Feb 03, 2016 15:15 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks Economy

The Fed is likely to tighten monetary policy only by as much as markets allow without major turmoil. The FOMC statement showed that the Fed takes the financial market turmoil and the development in China and other emerging...