From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ruglucia@paho.org">ruglucia@paho.org</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote">crossposted from: <a href="mailto:EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org">EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org</a><br>
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<p style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font color="maroon" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:maroon;font-weight:bold">The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 (WESP) <br>
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<p style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold">UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)– <u></u><u></u>New York<u></u><u></u>, January 17 2012 <br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></font><font color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Available online at: </span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><a href="http://t.co/1bifQOkW" title="http://bit.ly/wJQQXQ" target="_blank"><font color="black"><span style="color:windowtext">http://bit.ly/wJQQXQ</span></font></a><br>
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<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> “…..Countries
throughout the world will experience an economic slowdown this year as the
sovereign debt crisis in <u></u>Europe<u></u> continues to
unfold, according to a United Nations report launched today that also warns
that governments must urgently address high unemployment rates, particularly
among youth. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The report gives a detailed picture
on seven geographical regions and forecasts that growth rates for the next two
years will slow down in most of them, with the exception of the African
continent, which will continue to enjoy growth due to stable commodity prices
and foreign investment.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The report points to the European
sovereign debt crisis that erupted in <u></u><u></u>Greece<u></u><u></u> last May as a major shock to
the global economy, whose multiple negative effects will continue to
reverberate around the world.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">“Failure of policymakers,
especially those in Europe and the United States, to address the jobs crisis
and prevent sovereign debt distress and financial sector fragility from
escalating poses the most acute risk for the global economy in the outlook for
2012-2013,” the report states. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The report estimates that growth in
the European Union (EU) is expected to be only 0.7 per cent in 2012,
substantially lower than the 1.6 per cent growth registered last year. In
addition, unemployment throughout the continent will remain near 10 per cent in
the euro area, having changed very little since September 2009. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><u></u><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Africa</span></font><u></u><font face="Arial"><span style="font-family:Arial"> is expected to continue to grow,
defying the global trend. The continent is forecast to see an increase in its
overall growth from 2.7 per cent in 2011 to 5 per cent in 2012 and 5.1 per cent
in 2013. This growth will mainly be driven by relatively strong commodity
prices, solid external capital inflows and continued demand and investment from
<u></u>Asia<u></u>.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">However, growth will vary greatly
among countries in the continent due to military conflicts, corruption, lack of
infrastructure and severe drought in certain areas. The report also warns that
unemployment and poverty remain major problems and sources of instability,
which have already led to political unrest in <u></u>North Africa<u></u>.
<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><u></u><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">South
Africa</span></font><u></u><font face="Arial"><span style="font-family:Arial"> is expected to have the strongest economic growth in
2012, supported by growing demand from <u></u>Asia<u></u>,
continued fiscal stimulus measures and an increase in consumption driven by
rising wages.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The economic picture in the Arab World
will continue to be subject of high uncertainty due to the political transition
and civil protests brought by the Arab Spring. Regional growth is forecast to
decline from 6.6 per cent to 3.7 per cent as violent clashes hampered economic
activity in several Arab countries. Social unrest also affected trade and
tourism revenues, particularly in <u></u><u></u>Lebanon<u></u><u></u>.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">However, the report states that
generous social spending measures implemented in 2011 by Arab governments such
as <u></u><u></u>Saudi Arabia<u></u><u></u>
as a way to alleviate popular protests helped boost economic growth and the
impact of these measures will continue to be felt throughout 2012. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">As with Europe and <u></u>Africa<u></u>,
unemployment remains a key problem in the region. Despite extremely low female
participation rates, unemployment rates in the region are among the highest in
the world, especially among the educated youth, and the report warns that
leaving unemployment unaddressed represents a major risk to stability in the
region.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">In <u></u>East Asia<u></u>
growth is projected to decline to 6.9 per cent in both 2012 and 2013. <u></u><u></u>China<u></u><u></u>, the
biggest economy in the region, is also expected to slow down from 9.3 per cent
to 8.7 per cent growth in 2012. A major deceleration from <u></u><u></u>China<u></u><u></u>, however,
would represent a more pronounced slowdown for the rest of the region.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The South Asian and Latin American
and Caribbean regions remain particularly susceptible to the future of
developed economies as both the EU and the <u></u><u></u>US<u></u><u></u> are key export markets as well
as sources of tourism revenue.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">For Latin America, a slowdown in <u></u>China<u></u> would also adversely affect the region as
it is a major buyer of its commodities and a key investor in <u></u>South
America<u></u>…..”<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">“………the
report discusses several policy directions which could avoid a double-dip
recession, including: optimal design of fiscal policies to stimulate more
direct job creation and investment in infrastructure, energy efficiency and
sustainable energy supply, and food security; stronger financial safety nets;
better coordination between fiscal and monetary policies; and the provision of
sufficient support to developing countries in addressing the fallout from the
crisis and the coordination of policy measures at the international level…..”<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Also available:<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="EN">Executive
Summary available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></i></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="EN">Global
press releases: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></i></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="EN">Policy
Brief 36: Can a protracted slowdown be avoided?<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> </span></font></p></div></div></div><br>