As Fed taper looms, global central banks eye their own exits from stimulus Toggle share menu
Advertisement
As Fed taper looms, global central banks eye their own exits from stimulus
Federal Reserve Board building is pictured in Washington, on Mar 19, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis)
10 Jun 2021 07:15AM (Updated:
10 Jun 2021 08:04AM) Share this content
Bookmark
TOKYO/JOHANNESBURG/LONDON: Haunted by memories of past US interest rate hikes, the world s central banks are laying the groundwork for a transition to life with less global stimulus, with many countries already signalling moves to the exit.
While the Federal Reserve is publicly committed to keeping interest rates near zero - and no hikes are priced in until late next year at the earliest - official comments about inflationary pressures could become a chorus in months ahead, making tapering a more concrete prospect and likely heightening volatility in global financial markets.
Haunted by memories of past U.S. interest rate hikes, the world's central banks are laying the groundwork for a transition to life with less global stimulus, with many countries already signalling moves to the exit.
A draft of the government's annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines calls for efforts to raise minimum wages, aiming to achieve a national average of ¥1,000 per hour.
Jun 10, 2021
When Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration approves Japan’s new growth strategy later this month, it’s likely there will be a whole chapter dedicated to a topic that had not been given much attention until recently: economic security.
The new focal point reflects the rising tension between the United States and China in recent years, with U.S. President Joe Biden seeing geoeconomic risks as a key issue for his administration.
“I doubt there were growth strategies in the past that played up economic security as a pillar like this one does,” said a government official who briefed reporters earlier this month.
Paralympian Monika Seryu, right, and comedian Ryota Yamasato appear at an event unveiling tickets to the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward on Jan. 15, 2020. (Yosuke Fukudome)
Despite growing local opposition amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games that were postponed last year will get under way in less than two months barring “Armageddon,” as one International Olympic Committee member said.
But the delay so far has been expensive in various ways. Here are some areas where costs have grown, and where income that had been expected will not materialize.
OLYMPIC COSTS
Organizers said last December that the entire cost of holding the Games would come to about $15.4 billion, including $2.8 billion in costs for the unprecedented postponement from 2020. Since then, the projected bill for postponement has risen to $3 billion.