Capitol Report
Heavyweight Davos panel on 2014 global economic outlook steals spotlight
January 25, 2014, 3:44 PM
A heavyweight Davos panel featuring several central bankers stole the spotlight Saturday, as attendees skipped a day on the slopes to hear about the global economic outlook for 2014.
Bloomberg
Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, speaks at Davos
The seven-person panel included the heads of the Bank of Japan, Bank of England and European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as a lone voice from the private sector, BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Laurence Fink. Other speakers included Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission and Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s federal minister of finance.
Watch a video of the panel here.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde discussed new risks to the global economy, which include the Federal Reserve’s plan to reduce monetary stimulus and deflation.
The risk from the Fed includes the speed at which the central bank slows the rate of its bond purchases, also called tapering, how the process is communicated, and the spillover effect on emerging-market, she said. Another new risk is the chance of deflation in the euro zone, she said, noting that the region’s inflation is “way below target,” according to Reuters.
ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged the subdued rate of inflation and reiterated that the ECB was ready to ease further if needed.
The moderator, Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, introduced BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda as the “most exciting central banker in the world” at the moment.
Kuroda said he was “quite optimistic” about economic growth and Japan’s ability to meet its 2% inflation goal within two years, according to the BBC. He added that there’s still a way to go and there could be risks from Japan or other countries.
The BOE’s Mark Carney said stimulus still “remains very relevant,” according to the Reuters report. Carney said Friday at Davos that the BOE will update its forward guidance on interest rates in February as the unemployment rate has declined much faster than expected.
Forward guidance: BOE’s self-inflicted headache.
BlackRock’s Fink said recent volatility, evident across stocks and in emerging markets on Thursday and Friday, is here to stay. “The experience of the marketplace this past week is going to be indicative of this entire year,” he said, according to a report in Bloomberg News.
–Saumya Vaishampayan
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