Countries need to introduce trade reforms – particularly in the services sector – where barriers are as high as they were half a century ago to trade goods and escalating trade tensions threaten growth, three global organisations said yesterday.
“The system of global trade rules that has nurtured unprecedented economic growth across multiple generations faces tensions. Although only recently brought to the fore, those tensions are rooted in issues that have been left unresolved for too long,” the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organisation said in a joint paper.
Calls for trade reform come at a time of rising tensions between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, and which are locked in a tit-for-tat trade war that threatens to derail global growth.
These tensions are taking place at a time when higher interest rates in the US are hurting emerging markets, which are grappling with their own economic woes.
US tightening diverges with the monetary policy in the EU, where slower growth and low inflation has prompted the European Central Bank to continue its quantitative easing until the end of this year and keep interest rates on hold through at least the summer of 2019.
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Read more:
US-China trade tensions will worsen and impede global growth, says Moody’s
Trumpian Trade Wars threaten the GCC
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“Governments need to promptly address outstanding questions involving, for example, the WTO dispute system and the reach of subsidy disciplines. Co-operative action to secure greater openness – an imperative in its own right – could also help to resolve these issues,” they said.
The World Trade Organisation is projecting trade growth of 3.9 per cent for this year and 3.7 per cent next year, below last year’s 4.7 per cent. It lowered its 2018 trade growth forecast in September from 4.4 per cent in April.
The organisation cited trade tensions as the biggest threat to global commerce growth, coupled with higher interest rates and financial volatility.
The trade outlook is based on forecasts of world real gross domestic product of 3.1 per cent this year and 2.9 per cent in 2019, which creates a ratio of trade growth to GDP growth of 1.3 in both years.
The impact of reform on trade growth, and consequently economic expansion, had slowed down even before the start of the recent trade wars.
Global trade volumes, which grew at 7 per cent per year during the 1990s at double the rate of global GDP expansion, slowed down between 2001 and 2007 with the ratio of trade growth to GDP plunging to 1.5 and reaching almost parity in the period after the 2008 financial crisis.
“While several factors lie behind the slowdown, a substantial part represents a slower pace of trade reform following the remarkable progress made from the 1980s to the early 2000s,” said the paper.
For example, developing countries cut their average tariffs from 31 per cent in 1980 to 9 per cent in 2015.
“Tariffs, regulatory differences and other policy barriers still impede trade in goods,” said the paper.
“And even as trade agreements increasingly extend behind the border, domestic policies still often distort trade.”
The services sector, in particular, needs more trade reforms as it contributes to two thirds of GDP product and employment as well as nearly half of global trade.
“The opportunities provided by information technology and other fundamental changes in the global economy are yet to be reflected in modern areas of trade policy, such as services and electronic commerce,” said the paper. “Greater openness in these areas would promote competition, lift productivity and raise living standards."
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 435hp at 5,900rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,800-5,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Price: from Dh498,542
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
