Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Europe Posts 2006 Trade Deficit, First in Six Years (Wed14 Feb)
Europe recorded its first trade deficit for a full year since 2000, led by soaring energy costs and worsening trade positions with China, Russia and Japan. The euro-area trade deficit of 8.2 billion euros ($10.8 billion) for 2006 followed a 16.2 billion-euro surplus for the prior year, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said today, and is only the second full-year shortfall since the office began compiling the data in 1995. The trade gap in 2000 was 21.2 billion euros. The widening deficits with Asian nations may fan concern among European governments that the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen need to strengthen.
Read the full story at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ahXSwyIY_3Ko
Many countries in Europe are major importers of oil, thus making their current accounts (defined as the difference between exports and imports), and, hence, their balance of payments, susceptible to altering energy costs. In addition, developments in global exchange rates determine the competitiveness of euro-area exports, thus also contributing to the overall value of the balance of payments accounts. For example, there is much concern that the value of the Chinese yuan has fallen versus the euro, which renders Chinese exports more attractive to the consumers of Euro-land, and European exports more expensive to Chinese buyers.
The much acclaimed new interactive learning package LiveEcon can help you understand the economics behind these important policy events. Chapter 3 at principles levels describes the composition of national income in an open economy, while Chapters 13 and 14 integrate the open economy parameters and introduce the foreign exchange market into the IS-LM paradigm. Find out how to get LiveEcon at www.liveecon.com. Download this blog as a Blogcast via the website.
Europe recorded its first trade deficit for a full year since 2000, led by soaring energy costs and worsening trade positions with China, Russia and Japan. The euro-area trade deficit of 8.2 billion euros ($10.8 billion) for 2006 followed a 16.2 billion-euro surplus for the prior year, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said today, and is only the second full-year shortfall since the office began compiling the data in 1995. The trade gap in 2000 was 21.2 billion euros. The widening deficits with Asian nations may fan concern among European governments that the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen need to strengthen.
Read the full story at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ahXSwyIY_3Ko
Many countries in Europe are major importers of oil, thus making their current accounts (defined as the difference between exports and imports), and, hence, their balance of payments, susceptible to altering energy costs. In addition, developments in global exchange rates determine the competitiveness of euro-area exports, thus also contributing to the overall value of the balance of payments accounts. For example, there is much concern that the value of the Chinese yuan has fallen versus the euro, which renders Chinese exports more attractive to the consumers of Euro-land, and European exports more expensive to Chinese buyers.
The much acclaimed new interactive learning package LiveEcon can help you understand the economics behind these important policy events. Chapter 3 at principles levels describes the composition of national income in an open economy, while Chapters 13 and 14 integrate the open economy parameters and introduce the foreign exchange market into the IS-LM paradigm. Find out how to get LiveEcon at www.liveecon.com. Download this blog as a Blogcast via the website.
# posted by Kostas @ 15:20 
