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Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Bank of International Settlements Issues Warnings in Report
The Bank for International Settlements released their annual report yesterday. In the report (see also a summary), they issued warnings on economic imbalances, the U.S. budget deficit, and dollar depreciation.
The report found that the world economy is marked by increasing internal and external economic imbalances. These imbalances raise serious questions about future global growth and financial stability. The report said, "One simply cannot ignore the number of indicators that are now simultaneously exhibiting marked deviations from historical norms," and went on to warn that the U.S. budget deficit was an increasing concern of global importance. The report basically stated that without any sort of budgetary discipline, the continued decline of the U.S. dollar against other currencies appeared "inevitable."
The report also stated that the U.S. deficit "expanded to a record high as a proportion of GDP [almost 6%], and this in spite of a reduction in the effective real value of the dollar of more than 20% from its peak in early 2002.... It is unprecedented for a reserve currency country to have a current account deficit of such magnitude." The high deficit has resulted in the global financial system seemingly becoming increasingly prone to various sorts of financial turbulence. The Bank of International Settlements is warning Bush and Congress that if deficits continue to rise, there could be serious consequences. Given the current fiscal health of the U.S. economy, now is not the time for Congress and the President to be considering any extremely expensive legislation, without figuring out a way to pay for it.
Posted by Becky Lewis
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