Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday he was heartened by signs of a turnaround in the global economy and said he didn’t think China’s economy would pull down global growth.
“There is cautious optimism” about the global economy, given signs that uncertainties over trade had diminished recently, Powell told reporters at a press conference.
At the FOMC meeting, the Fed kept rates steady. Powell outlined plans to taper the Fed’s balance-sheet expansion policies starting in the second quarter.
Global growth looks like it is stabilizing after being a headwind on growth since mid-2018.
He noted that surveys of manufacturers around the world had started to show improving conditions.
“It is possible that this mix of positive developments and accommodative conditions could spur further growth,” he said.
Pressed about China’s economic outlook, Powell said he saw no immediate danger.
“We don’t think that there is any imminent risk there, although the coronavirus will have some effects on the Chinese economy, at least in the short term,” he said.
“On China, the scenario that we worry about is that some combination of slower growth in China interacts with the financial fragilities there — the property market, the shadow banking market, the tremendous amount of dodgy loans — and that those two combine to lead to a financial crisis that pushes growth down a lot further,” a Fed staffer told the central bankers.
Asked for an update on this five years later, Powell said that Chinese officials have tried to get the issues under control starting a few years ago.
Chinese officials have “stuck to that” even during this difficult period when they’ve been experiencing strains from trade negotiations.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the country’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $1.3 billion in September as imports fell more than exports.
The result compared with a revised deficit of $1.5 billion for August. The initial estimate for August released last month had shown a deficit of $1.1 billion.
Statistics Canada says the results for September came as total exports edged down 0.1 per cent to $63.9 billion.
Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products fell 5.4 per cent as exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys, decreased 15.4 per cent. Exports of energy products dropped 2.6 per cent as lower prices weighed on crude oil exports.
Meanwhile, imports for September fell 0.4 per cent to $65.1 billion as imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products dropped 12.7 per cent.
In volume terms, total exports rose 1.4 per cent in September while total imports were essentially unchanged in September.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
