Developing countries will “bear the brunt of the financial crisis originating in the US and other developed countries.” In fact, all economies will be affected by the crisis, albeit differently, contrary to the view that emerging markets are “decoupled” from the US economy.
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development Jomo K. Sundaram gave this assessment in a public lecture on the Global Financial Crisis and Asia held at the Ateneo de Manila University on February 23, 2009. It is interesting to note that the UN was the only multilateral institution that warned of an impending financial crisis as early as 2006.
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Action for Economic Reforms , the Department of Economics and the Department of Political Science of the Ateneo de Manila University and the Freedom from Debt Coalition co-sponsored the Jomo lecture.
In his presentation, Dr. Sundaram also said that policy priorities at this stage include limiting the spread of the financial crisis to the real economy by ensuring liquidity; putting up financial sector regulatory reforms at both the national and international levels; and reflating the economy through fiscal measures (e.g. fiscal stimulus) and monetary measures (e.g. lowering interests rates). Download Dr. Sundaram’s powerpoint presentation (In pdf file, 2.5 mb).
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