Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The IMF and the crisis on the US mortgages market
This is short but well informed contribution from the Unversity of Groningen.
What is the role of the IMF and how do you create global financial stability? Knowledge debat asked dr. Michael Koetter.
His proposition:
To gain financial stability in the long run transparency is needed. The IMF
should pressure national supervisors to collect and publish more detailed
information on financial institutions activities.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Critics Assail IMF Plan on Developing Nations' Voting Share
IMF Survey: Directors Back Reforms to Overhaul IMF Quotas and Voice
"Truman also said that the deal would need to be approved by Congress, where the response was likely to be skeptical. 'With leading experts very unimpressed by this reform, the U.S. administration will be quite lonely when they try to push this through Congress,' he said."
[Read More:Washingtonpost.com:]
"The board stopped short of major reforms that critics had demanded."
[Read More:New York Times]
"Elizabeth Stuart, représentante de l'ONG Oxfam International auprès du FMI, a pris sa calculette pour appliquer la nouvelle et fort complexe formule de calcul fixant le poids, et donc les voix, de chacun des Etats membres.
'Avec cette formule, les pays à bas revenus verront leurs droits de vote diminuer de 2,8 % et les pays émergents - à l'exclusion de la Chine, de l'Inde, du Mexique et de la Russie - subiront un recul de 6,9 %, dénonce-t-elle. En revanche, les pays du G7 augmenteront leurs droits de vote de 5,2 % ! En demandant le rejet de cette réforme, nous n'appelons pas à la révolution, mais nous demandons simplement que les membres du G7 tiennent leur promesse d'une vraie réforme de la gouvernance du FMI, et n'engage pas une réforme qui avantage peut-être quelques pays en développement mais qui défavorise le plus grand nombre.'"
Read More:Le Monde:]
"China, India, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil are among those that will see their voting power increase.
However, under the proposal the likes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Russia, Iran and Argentina would lose influence and all five countries either voted against the plans or abstained from voting."
[Read More:BBC NEWS:]
Thursday, March 27, 2008
IMF board to weigh controversial voting reform plan
"The package includes a series of 'other elements' clearly aimed at securing the support of the most influential emerging countries, such as China, India and Brazil, in boosting the voting rights accrued under the new quota formula.
The reform measures, however, remain largely inadequate, experts said.
'The proposed reforms fall far short in addressing the challenges facing the IMF in its evolution toward a truly global institution with more balanced and inclusive representation and voting power,' eight influential experts based in Washington said in a joint letter Wednesday to the IMF executive board.
They asked the board to reject the 'inadequate' package at its meeting Friday."
[Read More:AFP]
Foreign Wealth Funds Defend U.S. Investments
"Muhammad al-Jasser of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, which is forming a fund that may exceed $900 billion to become the world's largest, has said that 'it's like the sovereign wealth funds are guilty until proven innocent.' Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, head of Dubai World, which manages a $8 billion sovereign wealth fund, has warned critics in Western countries that if their money is not welcome, there are plenty of other places to invest."
Read More:washingtonpost.com:]
Academics urge countries to reject IMF vote formula
"WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - A group of influential Washington-based academics have urged IMF member countries in a letter to vote against a proposed new voting formula, arguing it falls far short of what is needed to give emerging and developing nations a bigger voice in the institution."
[Read More:Reuters]
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Communiqué du Conseil d'Administration de la Banque Centrale de Tunisie, réuni le 25 mars 2008.
Communiqué du Conseil d'Administration de la Banque Centrale de Tunisie, réuni le 25 mars 2008.
La conjoncture internationale demeure marquée par la poursuite des fluctuations des marchés financiers et des changes, la hausse des prix des produits de base et la montée des inquiétudes liées aux retombées de ces facteurs sur l’activité économique dans le monde.
Ces évolutions ont poussé les autorités monétaires dans les principaux pays développés à intervenir d’urgence et de manière concertée pour injecter sur les marchés un volume sans précédent de liquidités afin de circonscrire les effets de ces évolutions et d’éviter la récession de l’économie mondiale.
Dans ce cadre, la Réserve fédérale américaine a décidé de baisser son principal taux d’intérêt directeur et d’offrir la possibilité d’échanger les titres de créances commerciales contre des bons du Trésor et ce, pour fournir des liquidités suffisantes aux places financières et leur permettre de surmonter la situation difficile dans laquelle elles se sont trouvées.
Sur le plan national, la progression de l’activité économique s’est poursuivie comme le montre l’accroissement des exportations de biens et services, mais la conjoncture internationale et ses répercussions éventuelles sont de nature à exercer des pressions accrues sur le rythme de l’activité et sur les équilibres globaux tant intérieurs qu’extérieurs.
Cette situation requiert l’intensification des efforts par l’exploitation optimale des capacités disponibles dans tous les secteurs, l’amélioration de la productivité et la maîtrise des coûts de production afin de renforcer la compétitivité de l’économie , de manière à atténuer les effets de la conjoncture mondiale.
Sur le plan monétaire, la masse monétaire a enregistré, au terme de février 2008, un rythme de progression similaire à celui de la même période de l’an passé, soit 1,4%, tandis que le taux d’intérêt moyen du marché monétaire a atteint 5,31% au cours du même mois.
Pour ce qui est de l’évolution des prix, le glissement enregistré depuis le début de 2008 est estimé à 0,4%, soit un rythme supérieur à celui de l’année précédente, sous l’effet, notamment, des tensions inflationnistes mondiales.
S’agissant de l’évolution de la valeur du dinar sur le marché des changes, depuis le début de l’année et jusqu’au 25 mars courant, elle a enregistré une appréciation de 4,2% par rapport au dollar américain et une baisse de 1,2% vis-à-vis de l’euro.
A la lumière de ces évolutions, le Conseil d’Administration a décidé de maintenir inchangé le taux d’intérêt directeur de la Banque Centrale, tout en insistant, de nouveau, sur la nécessité d’assurer un suivi continu de la conjoncture internationale et de ses éventuelles retombées sur l’évolution de l’économie nationale.
[Read More:BCT]
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The rescue of Bear Stearns marks liberalisation’s limit
Martin Wolf on liberalisation’s limit:
"If the US itself has passed the high water mark of financial deregulation, this will have wide global implications. Until recently, it was possible to tell the Chinese, the Indians or those who suffered significant financial crises in the past two decades that there existed a financial system both free and robust. That is the case no longer. It will be hard, indeed, to persuade such countries that the market failures revealed in the US and other high-income countries are not a dire warning. If the US, with its vast experience and resources, was unable to avoid these traps, why, they will ask, should we expect to do better?"
[Read More:FT.com:]
Monday, March 24, 2008
Australian Company Calls WiMax a Disaster
Disaster. Miserable failure. Mired in opportunistic hype. Those were just a few of the descriptors Garth Freeman, the CEO of Australian company Buzz Broadband, recently used to characterize the next-generation wireless technology, WiMax.
[Read More:Wired.com]
Sunday, March 23, 2008
2007 Youtube Video Awards
Very ceative and funny.
Check the other videos @ 2007 Youtube Video Awards
Article par Le Monde
Friday, March 21, 2008
World Water Day
About World Water Day
The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.
The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the World Day for Water by adopting a resolution.This world day for water was to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development contained in chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21.
States were invited to devote the Day to implement the UN recommendations and set up concrete activities as deemed appropriate in the national context.
[Read More:World Water Day]
Facts about water, drinking water, and water-related disease
Did you know...
1.1 billion people lack access to an improved water supply - approximately one in six people on earth.
2.6 billion people in the world lack access to improved sanitation.
Less than 1% of the world's fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use.
A person can live weeks without food, but only days without water.
A person needs 4 to 5 gallons of water per day to survive.
The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day.
The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day.
Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
Water systems fail at a rate of 50% or higher.
Every $1 spent on water and sanitation creates on average another $8 in costs averted and productivity gained.
Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water live on less $2 a day.
Poor people living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more for per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
[Read More:Water Facts]
Bottled water is one of the biggest scam, after Y2K
First San Francisco banned it. Then Chicago started taxing it. Now, the city of Seattle is taking action against bottled water; last week, Mayor Greg Nickels signed an executive order to stop the city from buying bottled water. That means no more bottled water at city facilities and events, which may sound like a small step, but it'll make a big difference; last year, the city spent $58,000 on the stuff (and that's not including the true cost and carbon footprint of bottled water). We're willing to bet that the city's taxpayers can probably think of about 58,000 ways to better spend that money.
[Read More:The Huffington Post]
First plastic bags, now bottled water; San Francisco is certainly setting an example. Mayor Gavin Newsom signed an order this week banning the use of City funds to purchase single-serving bottled water
[Read More:TreeHugger]
Hopefully in the near future:
IMF Approves Plan for Sovereign Wealth Fund Code - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON -- The International Monetary Fund's executive board gave the go-ahead Friday for the staff to develop a code of best practices for sovereign wealth funds by the IMF's autumn meeting in October.
[Read More:WSJ.com]
From the IMF web site and text of the background report discussed by the IMF Board
IMF Board Endorses Work Agenda on Sovereign Funds
By IMF Survey online
March 21, 2008
Board discusses IMF work on sovereign wealth funds
Work to be coordinated with SWFs and OECD
IMF staff to work with members and SWFs on development of voluntary best practices
The IMF's Executive Board gave the green light for further analysis on the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the global economy and endorsed a proposal for the IMF to work with SWFs and other relevant parties to prepare a set of best practices for the state investment institutions.
At a meeting on March 21, the Board discussed a proposed work agenda relating to SWFs, which have gained in importance in the international monetary and financial system. The Board discussion provided an opportunity for Directors to discuss these funds, and ways to facilitate the development of a set of voluntary best practices by SWFs. This work would be coordinated with the work of the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD) on practices for recipient countries as appropriate.
SWFs have been around for a long time, at least since the 1950s. But their total size worldwide has grown dramatically over the past 10-15 years, with the IMF now estimating that they will rise from $2-3 trillion today to about $6-10 trillion within five years. At present, China, Kuwait, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries that hold the world's largest SWFs. [see related story, "IMF Intensifies Work on Sovereign Wealth Funds."]
Impetus for growth
The main impetus for the growth of SWFs comes from high oil prices, financial globalization, and continued imbalances in the global financial system that have resulted in the rapid accumulation of foreign assets by some countries.
Many have welcomed the recent role of SWFs in providing capital to several large banks affected by the subprime mortgage crisis.
IMF staff will now start work with members and SWFs on the development of best practices, including the establishment of an international Working Group of SWFs to begin technical discussions and drafting work from April onwards.
The set of best practices would cover issues of public governance, transparency, and accountability principles—all of which should help enhance understanding of the operations of SWFs, the IMF says.
Evenhanded approach
"A better understanding of the role and practices of SWFs and the development of a set of best practices could help countries with SWFs benefit from the experience of other countries, strengthen their domestic policy frameworks and institutions, and further their macroeconomic and financial interests," said Jaime Caruana, Director of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department.
"Best practices and principles could also help ease concerns about SWFs in recipient countries and contribute to an open global monetary and financial system," he told a press briefing after the Board had concluded its session.
"In our view, the key to a successful result is one that is based on an inclusive, collaborative, and evenhanded effort," he added.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Amazon.com: Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak: Christopher Cerf,Victor S. Navasky,Robert Grossman: Books
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?
"Now, it isn't gong to be over in 24 hours, but it isn't going to be months either."
- Richard Perle, Chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, 7/11/02
"The idea that it's going to be a long, long, long battle of some kind I think is belied by the fact of what happened in 1990. Five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that."
- Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 11/15/02
"I will bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week. Are you willing to take that wager?"
- Bill O'Reilly, 1/29/03
"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could be six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
- Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 2/7/03
"It won't take weeks... Our military machine will crush Iraq in a matter of days and there's no question that it will."
- Bill O'Reilly, 2/10/03
"There is zero question that this military campaign...will be reasonably short. ... Like World War II for about five days."
- General Barry R. McCaffrey, national security and terrorism analyst for NBC News, 2/18/03
"The Iraq fight itself is probably going to go very, very fast. The shooting should be over within just a very few days from when it starts."
- David Frum, former Bush White House speechwriter, 2/24/03
"Our military superiority is so great -- it's far greater than it was in the Gulf War, and the Gulf War was over in 100 hours after we bombed for 43 days... Now they can bomb for a couple of days and then just roll into Baghdad... The odds are there's going to be a war and it's going to be not for very long."
- Former President Bill Clinton, 3/6/03
"I think it will go relatively quickly...weeks rather than months."
- Vice President Dick Cheney, 3/16/
[Read More:Amazon.com: Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak: Christopher Cerf,Victor S. Navasky,Robert Grossman: Books]
Treasury Reaches Agreement on Principles for Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment with Singapore and Abu Dhabi
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Thursday it had reached agreement Abu Dhabi and Singapore that they will not use their huge government investment funds to further their political goals.
[Read More:Yahoo! Finance]
See US Treasury's Press Release:
March 20, 2008 hp-881 Treasury Reaches Agreement on Principles for Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment with Singapore and Abu Dhabi Washington, DC--Officials from the U.S. Treasury, the governments of Singapore and Abu Dhabi, and sovereign wealth funds ADIA and GIC met today in Washington, DC to discuss issues surrounding sovereign wealth funds, recipient country inward investment regimes, and efforts to develop best practices. Joining Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and Deputy Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt were Government of Abu Dhabi Executive Council Member Hamad Al Hurr Al Suwaidi, ADIA Executive Director Hareb Masood Al-Darmaki, Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and GIC Deputy Chairman Tony Tan. "We had a good discussion today on the issues surrounding sovereign wealth funds. Singapore and UAE have long-established, well-respected funds and are showing real leadership by joining with us today. The U.S. welcomes sovereign wealth fund investment and looks forward to continuing to work with these two countries and others to support the initiatives underway at the IMF and OECD to develop best practices for sovereign wealth funds and recipient countries," said Paulson. "The principles we agreed to here today will further those efforts." Following today's meeting the three nations released the following joint statement and accompanying policy principles: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) represent government-owned investment vehicles, funded by foreign exchange assets and commodity export receipts, etc., which invest internationally for financial objectives such as stabilization and intergenerational savings. The United States, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore, being a group of nations with SWFs and a country receiving investments from SWFs, have a common interest in an open and stable international financial system. We support the processes underway in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop voluntary best practices for SWFs and inward investment regimes for government-controlled investment in recipient countries, respectively. International agreement on a set of voluntary best practices will create a strong incentive among SWFs and investment-recipient countries to hold themselves to high standards. We hope that the IMF and OECD's work can build upon these basic principles: Policy Principles for Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) SWF investment decisions should be based solely on commercial grounds, rather than to advance, directly or indirectly, the geopolitical goals of the controlling government. SWFs should make this statement formally as part of their basic investment management policies. 2. Greater information disclosure by SWFs, in areas such as purpose, investment objectives, institutional arrangements, and financial information – particularly asset allocation, benchmarks, and rates of return over appropriate historical periods – can help reduce uncertainty in financial markets and build trust in recipient countries. 3. SWFs should have in place strong governance structures, internal controls, and operational and risk management systems. 4. SWFs and the private sector should compete fairly. 5. SWFs should respect host-country rules by complying with all applicable regulatory and disclosure requirements of the countries in which they invest. Policy Principles for Countries Receiving SWF Investment 1. Countries receiving SWF investment should not erect protectionist barriers to portfolio or foreign direct investment. 2. Recipient countries should ensure predictable investment frameworks. Inward investment rules should be publicly available, clearly articulated, predictable, and supported by strong and consistent rule of law. 3. Recipient countries should not discriminate among investors. Inward investment policies should treat like-situated investors equally. 4. Recipient countries should respect investor decisions by being as unintrusive as possible, rather than seeking to direct SWF investment. Any restrictions imposed on investments for national security reasons should be proportional to genuine national security risks raised by the transaction. |
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
British authorities try to quell damaging financial rumors - International Herald Tribune
LONDON: In a rare move to calm investors' nerves, British financial authorities stepped forward on Wednesday to quench a string of "unfounded rumors" that had sent some financial stocks in London into a tailspin.
The Financial Services Authority said it had started an investigation into whether some traders spread rumors about British financial institutions over the last few days and might have profited from the decline in the stocks' share prices. Separately, the Bank of England, which almost never makes public statements about specific lenders, denied rumors that it met or scheduled to meet with executives at a British bank to discuss potential liquidity problems.
[Read More:International Herald Tribune]
Economics Blog : IMF: Moving Ahead on Sovereign Wealth Funds
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board is expected on Friday to bless the staff’s effort to create a voluntary code of “best practices” to guide sovereign wealth funds, giving a political boost to the efforts.
On a request from the Group of seven nations – U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, France and Canada — the IMF has been trying to put together a kind of voluntary code of conduct that would help sovereign wealth funds convince skeptical politicians in Europe and the U.S. that the funds are investing for commercial rather than political reasons
[Read More:WSJ Blogs]
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke dies aged 90 - Times Online
He was the best science fiction writer. "2001: A Space Odyssey" is, in my view one the best movie ever, if not the best.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer, has died aged 90 in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, it was confirmed tonight.
[Read More:Times Online]
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Week That Shook Wall Street: Inside the Demise of Bear Stearns - WSJ.com
From : WSJ.com
The past six days have shaken American capitalism.
Between Tuesday, when financial markets began turning against Bear Stearns Cos., and Sunday night, when the bank disappeared into the arms of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Washington policy makers, federal regulators and Wall Street bankers struggled to keep the trouble from tanking financial markets and exacerbating the country's deep economic uncertainty.
The mood changed daily, as did the apparent scope of the problem. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson thought markets would be calmed by the announcement that the Federal Reserve had agreed to help bail out Bear Stearns. President Bush gave a reassuring speech that day about the fundamental soundness of the U.S. economy. By Saturday, however, Mr. Paulson had become convinced that a definitive agreement to sell Bear Stearns had to be inked before markets opened yesterday.
....
One theory began developing internally: Hedge funds with short positions on Bear -- bets that the company's stock would fall -- were trying to speed the decline by spreading negative rumors.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
We will never have a perfect model of risk
By Alan Greenspan
The most credible explanation of why risk management based on state-of-the-art statistical models can perform so poorly is that the underlying data used to estimate a model’s structure are drawn generally from both periods of euphoria and periods of fear, that is, from regimes with importantly different dynamics.
[Read More:FT.com]
Paul Krugman: Greenspan lectures us again
I once said of Alan Greenspan: He’s like a man who suggests leaving the barn door ajar, and then - after the horse is gone - delivers a lecture on the importance of keeping your animals properly locked up. He’s still doing it. He begins: The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in [...]
[Read More:Paul Krugman Blog]
Infrastructure
Les planificateurs, les économistes, les financiers font valser les chiffres.
La Tunisie semble, aujourd’hui, désormais le pôle de tous les désirs. Et les investisseurs, qu’ils soient du Golfe, d’Asie ou d’Europe, succomberaient tous à nos charmes.
Il faut reconnaître, bien sûr, que nous avons les moyens de notre politique : situation géographique privilégiée, stabilité politique et sociale, dévoloppement économique fiable, sécurité étant les maîtres mots. Il faut leur ajouter une tradition d’accueil et d’ouverture, une qualité reconnue du potentiel humain et un sens atavique de l’entreprenariat.
Mais avons-nous la politique de nos moyens ?
Et tous ces projets, qui concernent la Tunisie du Nord au Sud, qui sont tout à la fois touristiques, industriels, écologiques, immobiliers et financiers, ne risquent-ils pas de dépasser et d’outrepasser nos capacités humaines et matérielles ?N’est-ce pas «trop» pour notre capacité d’absorption? En un mot, ne sommes-nous pas en train de faire… du surbooking? Une fois de plus, après nous être posé la question, nous avons été la poser à M. Slim Tlatli, président de la Commission Supérieure des Grands Projets.
La réponse, cette fois-ci, a été des plus claires.
[Read More:LaPresse]
Friday, March 14, 2008
EU welcomes sovereign wealth funds
European Union leaders on Friday laid out the welcome mat to sovereign wealth funds to invest in the bloc, as they met in Brussels with dark economic clouds gathering on the other side of the Atlantic.
With news of the collapse in confidence in Bear Stearns filtering into the Brussels’ summit room, EU leaders waved through a communiqué stressing that Europe would remain open to investment from state-owned investment funds.
[Read More:FT.com]
IMF vote deal likely but not without opposition
By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - Developing countries have opposed a new voting formula meant to increase their sway in the International Monetary Fund, but acknowledge it will likely end up being endorsed by a majority of the IMF's 185 member nations.
The group of around 50 countries represented by Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Russia and Kenya, which speaks for 19 African nations, said the proposal did not sufficiently shift voting power from dominant industrial countries toward developing nations, which it was meant to do.
"The whole idea of the quota review was that the share of emerging and low-income countries would increase at the expense of industrial nations," one board official said.
"That clearly hadn't happened because the direct shift of quotas from industrial nations is nothing more than 2.7 percent, most of that coming from the tripling of basic votes," the official added.
[Read More:Reuters]
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Zone de libre échange entre la Tunisie et les Etats-Unis
La libéralisation du commerce offre des avantages essentiels pour le développement économique. L'abolition des barrières tarifaires est motivée par l'accroissement et l'exploitation des richesses nationales au profit des différents secteurs
[Read More:Le temps]
Comparés à l’Europe, les flux commerciaux entre la Tunisie et les Etats-Unis d’Amériques sont encore timides mais présentent des potentialités de développement.
[Read More:LaPresse]
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Do Sovereign Wealth Funds Pose a Risk to the United States?
by Edwin M. Truman, Peterson Institute
The challenge facing the United States and the international financial community is how to make the world safer for sovereign wealth funds and maintain our own, open market-based regime in which private-sector actors are the major players. My answer is agree upon a set of best practices, or a standard, for sovereign wealth funds to make them more accountable to their own citizens and governments, to the citizens and governments of host countries, and to participants in financial markets. Transparency has a large part to play in establishing such accountability, but it is only part of the game.
Based upon the "scoreboard" [pdf] for 33 sovereign wealth funds that I have developed, I am confident that the union of the actual practices of those funds provides an appropriate framework for a set of best practices. The reason is that at least one sovereign wealth fund currently, voluntarily complies with each of the 25 elements in the scoreboard.2
[Read More:Peterson Institute for International Economics]
IMF Intensifies Work on Sovereign Wealth Funds
With sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) rapidly gaining importance in the international monetary and financial system, the IMF has stepped up its work across a broad range of issues related to these state-owned funds, including their impact on global financial stability and capital flows.
[Read More:IMF Survey]
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Mai 1968
Souvenirs, souvenirs. 40 ans deja. Lors de mon passage a Paris, la semiane derniere, j'ai achete Mai 1968 : La révolte en images: Laurent Chollet par Michel Le Bris.
Ci apres un dossier complet par Libération - Mai 1968
Sandra & Ben Wedding Plan
- The Wedding Planner : Elegance & Simplicity
- The Event Location : Audubon Naturalist Society In Chevy Chase, MD.
This is a slide show of some weddings in our extended family & friends in Tunisia:
Tourismag - Méga-projets: Ces pétrodollars qui vont changer le visage de la Tunisie...
Un autre article par Tourismag
detaillant les nouveaux mega projets touristiques et immobiliers en Tunisie :
Tourismag - Méga-projets: Ces pétrodollars qui vont changer le visage de la Tunisie...
48 HOURS IN: Tunis, Tunisia
With a buzzing medina, cool courtyards, and proximity to Carthage and the Med, Tunisia's colourful capital is sure to enthral, says Frank Partridge of the Independant.
[Read More:Independent.co.uk]
IMF reform seen as serious hurdle to IMF gold sales - Forbes.com
But whatever the reason, a frozen IMF that is reluctant to move on China is likely to make Congress think twice about approving IMF gold sales.
'As a practical matter, there needs to be some movement on exchange rates and other issues where Congress not happy with the IMF,' before gold sales are approved, Mussa says.
[Read More:Forbes.com]
IMF reform seen as serious hurdle to IMF gold sales
But whatever the reason, a frozen IMF that is reluctant to move on China is likely to make Congress think twice about approving IMF gold sales.
"As a practical matter, there needs to be some movement on exchange rates and other issues where Congress not happy with the IMF," before gold sales are approved, Mussa says.
[Read More:Sharewatch]
Friday, March 7, 2008
French village bans death - Yahoo! News
I hope it's a joke!
PAU, France (AFP) - The mayor of a French village has issued a decree banning residents from dying in his territory unless they own a spot in the overcrowded cemetery.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It is forbidden for any person not having a plot in the cemetery ... to die on the territory of the village," the mayor of the southwestern village of Sarpourenx wrote in a decree that warned of "severe punishment" for offenders.
[Read More:Yahoo! News]
allAfrica.com: Tunisia: 2008 WEF Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index ranks Tunisia 1st in Africa and 2 nd in the Arab world
The 2008 World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitive Index (TTCI) ranks Tunisia (39), first in Africa and second in the Arab World out of 130 nations, in its recently released index. The TTCI index ranks Tunisia second after Qatar (37). It precedes the UAE (40), Bahrain (48), Jordan (43) and Egypt (66). In Africa , Tunisia is ranked first after Mauritius (41) and South Africa (60).
Tunisia also precedes Thailand (42), Brazil (49), and Turkey (54).
Read More:allAfrica.com]
Link to the : WEForum and the whole report
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Eurogroup chief mends fences after criticising IMF
BRUSSELS, March 4 (Reuters) - Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker tried on Tuesday to mend fences with International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn after criticising him for calling for a political counterweight to an "ultra-powerful" European Central Bank in the euro zone.
[Read More:Guardian]
This is the interview to Le Monde:
"Le problème de l'euro est que la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), qui fait bien son travail pour contenir l'inflation, est surpuissante : elle n'a pas de contre-poids politique en la personne d'un vrai ministre européen des finances qui serait en charge de la croissance."
[Read More:Le Monde.fr : Dominique Strauss-Kahn : "la BCE est surpuissante et n'a pas de contrepoids politique"]
In the same interview and on fiscal stimulus: Le Monde's interview v.s. the Financial Times:
Quels sont les pays qui pourraient participer à une telle relance ?
L'Inde a dit y être prête. La Chine, qui mise de plus en plus sur sa consommation intérieure et moins sur ses exportations et les Etats pétroliers, bien sûr. Le FMI a calculé que les pays ayant les moyens de cet effort représentaient entre 20% et 25% de la richesse mondiale. Avec le plan de relance de 153 milliards de dollars (100milliards d'euros) décidé par les Etats-Unis, cette stimulation pourrait concerner près de la moitié de la planète. Aux crises mondiales qu'entraîne la mondialisation, il faut des réponses planétaires.
"Even so, the details announced on Friday were disappointing for economists concerned about inflation and alarming for investors in Indian banks. Mr Chidambaram’s pre-election handouts included more than $15bn loan relief for farmers and higher thresholds for income tax. Bank shares have since fallen sharply, partly because it is not clear how the loan waivers will work in practice and because the plan favours small farmers in arrears over those who have diligently paid what they owed."
[Read More:FT.com / Comment & analysis / Editorial comment - When economics yields to politics]
Monday, March 3, 2008
Deutsche Bank CEO Suggests Finance Watchdog
]"(It could be) a group of wise men and women, who for example would observe within the framework of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the development of financial markets and raise the alarm if there was any danger in sight."
[Read More:Reuters
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Portail du Ministère des Finances
Le Portail du Ministère des Finances est maintenant ouvert.
Il contient une liste utile de sites web financiers Tunisiens.
Ci-apres extrait d'un article de Babnet sur ce nouveau site:
Ce site réalisé par le Centre Informatique (CIMF) relevant du Ministère des Finances est destiné au public et aux professionnels, Il propose un large éventail de services :
Il présente le Ministère des Finances : ses attributions, son organisation, ses projets, ses missions...
- Il informe le visiteur des différents services qu'offrent les structures relevant du Ministère.
- Il dresse l'évolution des indicateurs statistiques et des finances publiques se rapportant aux différents domaines de la compétence du Ministère des Finances.
- Il oriente les citoyens sur la meilleure manière de bénéficier du service rendu par le Ministère (modalités, délais, contact ...)
- Il sert de passerelle aux sites Web relevant du Ministère des Finances, ainsi qu'à d'autres adresses utiles.
- Il couvre les événements survenus et diffuse les nouvelles se rapportant au secteur : principaux communiqués, manifestations, actualités et autres événements.
- Il permet de consulter et de télécharger des publications et ouvrages en relation avec les domaines couverts par le Ministère des Finances.
- Il offre aux personnes inscrites, l'avantage d'être informées par courrier électronique, de toute nouvelle ou actualité dès sa publication sur le portail.
[Read More:Babnet]
Tunisia lifts petrol prices to trim budget gap
TUNIS, March 2 (Reuters) - Tunisia has increased domestic petrol prices by 4.16 percent to cut an energy budget deficit that has widened on soaring world prices, the government said on Sunday.
The price of lead-free petrol and two-star petrol rose to 1.250 dinar ($1.05) per litre from 1.200 dinar.
[Read More:Reuters]
Details from LaPresse
Produits pétroliers
Ajustement des prix
• L’impact supplémentaire de la dernière hausse du pétrole estimé à 500 MD
• Le nouvel ajustement ne couvre que le quart du glissement des prix des hydrocarbures
Le ministère de l’Industrie, de l’Energie et des Petites et Moyennes entreprises porte à la connaissance du public, dans un communiqué publié hier, qu’à partir du dimanche 2 mars 2008 à zéro heure, les prix de vente au public des produits pétroliers sont modifiés comme suit :
1. Essence super sans plomb : 1,250 dinar/litre
2. Essence super : 1,250 dinar/litre
3. Pétrole lampant : 690 millimes/litre
4. Gasoil 50 PPM : 1,050 dinar/litre
5. Gasoil : 890 millimes/litre
6. Fuel oil lourd n° 2 : 340 dinars/tonne
7. Gaz de pétrole liquéfié (GPL)
– La charge de 3 kg : 1,750 dinar
– La charge de 5 kg : 2,830 dinars
– La charge de 6 kg : 3,370 dinars
– La charge de 13 kg : 7,200 dinars
– La charge de 25 kg : 24,170 dinars
– La charge de 35 kg : 33,835 dinars
– Le GPL en vrac : 966,750 dinars/tonne
– Propane liquide en vrac : 998,195 dinars/tonne
Cet ajustement survient au moment où le prix du pétrole sur les marchés internationaux a enregistré un nouveau record au cours des derniers jours, dépassant le seuil de 100 dollars le baril, alors que les estimations retenues pour le budget de l’Etat pour l’année 2008 tablaient sur un baril à 75 dollars. Ainsi, selon les dernières données, l’impact supplémentaire du cette hausse est estimé à 500 millions de dinars pour l’année actuelle.
Aussi, et à la lumière de la hausse continue qui a dépassé toutes les prévisions, notre pays est contraint d’introduire un ajustement des prix des hydrocarbures sur le marché local. Cet ajustement est limité et prend en considération le souci de préserver le pouvoir d’achat du citoyen et la compétitivité de l’entreprise, d’une part, et l’impératif d’atténuer les effets de la hausse des prix des hydrocarbures sur les équilibres financiers et l’effort de développement du pays, d’autre part.
Cet ajustement ne couvre, en effet, que le quart du glissement escompté des prix, en espérant une certaine détente au niveau des prix internationaux au cours de la prochaine période. Malgré cet ajustement, les prix des hydrocarbures sur le marché local restent, d’ailleurs, fortement subventionnés à hauteur de :
–Essence super et essence sans plomb : 80 millimes par litre
– Gasoil : 250 millimes par litre
– Pétrole lampant : 400 millimes par litre
–Fuel oil : 350 dinars la tonne
– GPL bouteille de 13 kg : 11,700 dinars la bouteille.
Ce qui exige d’approfondir la prise de conscience quant à l’impératif de rationaliser davantage la consommation d’énergie à tous les niveaux.
Il est possible, en effet, d’amortir cet ajustement des prix des hydrocarbures à travers le recours aux équipements économes d’énergie et en adoptant des comportements adaptés, à l’instar de la limitation de la vitesse, et l’application des indications et conseils pratiques permettant d’éviter les excès dans la consommation d’énergie.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Central Bank Sales over the Next 19 Months to Reduce by 400 Tonnes? - GoldSeek.com
When it was learned that the Treasury was to support the sale of 400 tonnes of gold all were surprised. We realized that Congress would still have to be asked to approve the sale. When the mist cleared and we saw in sharp focus what lay ahead we realized that much more needed to be done before the sales became a reality. These are the steps still to be overcome for these sales to take place:
1. The I.M.F. must trim their staff, by 15%. This is not a quick action?
2. The U.S.A. must get the approval of Congress; an approval that was denied them in the past.
3. They must get the approval of 85% of their members and the U.S.A. accounts for 17% of the votes. They must find another 68% of their members in favor.
4. They must organize their sales as below.
Should these obstacles be overcome at some point in the future, the proceeds would then be used to finance an expected income gap in this fiscal year of about U.S.$224m and the balance be placed in a fund from which the income can be used to fund the I.M.F.’s overheads.
[Read More:GoldSeek.com]
Un directeur exécutif du Fonds monétaire international à Tunis
Le FMI disposé à renforcer la coopération avec la Tunisie
M. Mohamed Rachid Kechich, ministre des Finances, s'est entretenu hier, à Tunis, avec M. Mohamed Jaafar Moujarad, directeur exécutif et représentant du groupe auquel appartient la Tunisie au Fonds monétaire international (FMI).
Le ministre a évoqué au cours de cet entretien, qui s’inscrit dans le cadre du programme des rencontres périodiques des directeurs exécutifs du Fonds avec les pays membres, les différents indicateurs économiques et rappelé les efforts déployés en vue de poursuivre le processus de développement, de garantir les équilibres financiers, de maîtriser le déficit budgétaire et de réduire l’endettement public.
Il a également souligné les retombées négatives de la hausse des prix du pétrole, des matières premières et des produits de base sur l’économie nationale et les efforts consentis afin de les surmonter à travers une approche visant à préserver le rythme de développement, le pouvoir d’achat du citoyen et la compétitivité de l’entreprise.
Il a passé en revue les principales réformes introduites dans le domaine de la fiscalité, marquées notamment par la simplification des procédures et la réduction des taux.
De son côté, M. Moujarad a exprimé sa considération pour les efforts de la Tunisie en matière de développement et la disposition du FMI à renforcer la coopération avec la Tunisie.
[Read More:LaPresse]
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