Japan's export growth fails to narrow trade deficit. 22 October 2014Last updated at 05:06 ET Carmakers have been facing difficult times in global markets Japan's trade deficit edged higher in September despite exports rising at their fastest pace in seven months.
Exports jumped 6.9% from a year earlier to 6.38tn yen ($60bn; £38bn), while imports rose 6.2% to 7.34tn, leaving a deficit of 958.3bn yen, up 1.6% from September 2013. The weak yen has helped bring down the cost of Japanese goods sold abroad. The finance ministry data showed that exports to Asia were strong, with sales to China up 15% for the month. However, a consequence of the weaker yen has been to raise the cost of importing fuel, raw materials and components, hurting the manufacturing sector in particular. "Exports staged a rebound but they are still lacking momentum as a trend, as Japanese carmakers and other firms are shifting production abroad and global growth remains moderate," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
South Africa economic growth forecast slashed. 22 October 2014Last updated at 11:15 ET South Africa's new finance minister has his work cut out South Africa has downgraded its economic growth, but the country's new finance minister pledged to keep a tight rein on government spending.
Nhlanhla Nene told parliament in his medium-term budget statement that economic growth would only be 1.4% this year. GDP growth was earlier forecast at 2.7% in the full budget back in February. South Africa suffered a prolonged strike on its platinum mines earlier this year. Meanwhile, the budget deficit was forecast at 4.1% for this fiscal year, compared with a previously predicted figure of 4%. "The weak economic performance has put a great deal of pressure on the fiscus, with revenue insufficient to cover expenditure," Mr Nene said in his speech. Economists were looking for some hints at government spending cuts, as more than half of the national income goes on welfare payments and the public sector wage bill. Move over America: China overtakes US as world's biggest economy (kind of) - Business News - Business - The Independent.
According to the International Monetary Fund the combined purchasing power of China's citizens now outstrips that of America's.
And by the end of the year will China should make up 16.48 per cent of the world's purchasing-power adjusted GDP for a total of $17.632 trillion (£11 trillion). The US, by contrast, will make up 16.28 per cent, or $17.416 trillion. Purchasing power parity seeks to address the fact that while wages tend to be lower in “developing” countries than in mature economies like the US, the price of goods and servicing is also typically much lower. The Economist's Big Mac Index, for example, quotes the price of the McDonalds staple in July at $4.80 in the US, but just $2.73 in China. PPP, therefore, bases economic output on what a country's citizens can purchase, as opposed to an unadjusted GDP figure using market exchange rate, which is more often quoted. Loading gallery Business news in pictures. Number of UK High Street shops falls sharply. 8 October 2014Last updated at 19:39 ET The number of shops on the High Street declined dramatically in the first nine months of this year, a survey suggests.
Town centres saw 964 net closures between January and September, two-and-a-half times the net reduction for the whole of 2013, according to the study by PwC and the Local Data Company. The collapse of businesses such as Phones 4U and lingerie chain La Senza accelerated the decline, PwC said. Clothing shops were among the hardest hit while betting shops thrived. In total 365 traditional goods retailers, such as shoe and clothes shops, closed down in the first half of the year. The number of travel agents and pawnbrokers also fell. This was exacerbated by a dramatic reduction in the number of Albermarle & Bond shops after the pawnbroker fell into administration and had to be rescued by an investment group.
Coffee shops thrive "Multiple retailers are continuing to close stores on High Streets in favour of retail parks and shopping centres. Ebola crisis: The economic impact. 20 August 2014Last updated at 19:03 ET By Richard Hamilton BBC News Military road blocks are preventing the movement of goods and workers With more than 1,300 reported deaths from Ebola in West Africa, the virus continues to be an urgent health crisis, but it is also having a devastating impact on the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"The economy has been deflated by 30% because of Ebola," Sierra Leone's Agriculture Minister Joseph Sam Sesay told the BBC. He said President Ernest Bai Koroma revealed this staggering and depressing news to ministers at a special cabinet meeting.