[Reuters] -- May 15 - Latino workers in Japan have been offered money by the Japanese government to leave after losing jobs.
Showing posts with label recession. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recession. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Latino Ex-pat workers hit in Japan
[Reuters] -- May 15 - Latino workers in Japan have been offered money by the Japanese government to leave after losing jobs.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
BoJ revises down growth forecast -- FT Asia
The Bank of Japan expects growth to contract by a significantly greater margin than it forecast just two months ago as the world’s second largest economy continues to suffer from a collapse in demand.
“Economic conditions in Japan have deteriorated significantly,” the BoJ said in a statement on Thursday as it lowered its forecast for the economy to a 3.1 per cent contraction in the year to next March, rather than a previously expected 2 per cent decline in growth.
Click here to access this FT Asia article
“Economic conditions in Japan have deteriorated significantly,” the BoJ said in a statement on Thursday as it lowered its forecast for the economy to a 3.1 per cent contraction in the year to next March, rather than a previously expected 2 per cent decline in growth.Click here to access this FT Asia article
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Will Microfinance be able "feed itself," or will the global crisis catch up to it?
Banks think small to achieve big; focusing on microfinance
India's Microfinance sector is doing well, so well that the leading private and foreign banks in the country are planning to increase their MFI operations.
This article from the Hindu, MFI institutions are usually "fund-starved" in even the best of times due to the incredible demand that is unleashed as soon micro-credit becomes available to dis-enfranchised poor working within the context of a extra-legal economy.
"Despite the financial crisis, MFIs have been the least affected as they have managed to maintain the quality of the business. RBS will continue to expand its MFI portfolio and expects to grow the size to Rs 450 crore by the fiscal-end," RBS Vice-President Moumita Sen Sarma said.
Additionally the lender does not expect any deterioration in the asset quality of MFI units in 2009-10.
The question I ask to those interested in starting a discussion is how long can the Microfinance sectors in developing nations go unaffected by the greater global recession and continue to grow?
Microfinance generally targets the poor people in countries where poor do not have access to modern financial instruments like loans, savings accounts. Many times they lack access to even the most simple of modern technologies, like a cell phone.
Is it possible for Microfinance to "feed itself?"
Consider this cycle. A poor migrant has just emigrated from the Andes mountains to Lima, Peru. After years of struggling to make ends meet, living in a hut constructed out of garbage on a sand dune in the Atacama desert, this woman secures a loan to buy a blender. She can now make tasty juices from all of Peru's delicious fruits that she can sell to people waiting for the bus in her shanty town (Pueblo Jovenes as they are called in Lima).
Technically speaking wealth and economic activity have been produced in this corner of Peru's extralegal sector. This woman is able to pay back her loan with interest so that the lender makes money, she is able to earn a new stream of revenue which she can then spend in the greater economy on goods and services and maybe, just maybe she will eventually be able to afford something like schooling for her children.
How long can this last? Even if money is made available for Microfinance, how long will those workers waiting for the bus in the Shantytown remain employed? If they do lose their jobs does this mean the demand for juice will disapear? Or is there such a high demand for simple services like cold juice in the extra-legal economy that this woman who took out a micro-loan will continue to be able to do business?
Is demand from the underbelly of the world's developing nations so great that it can support itself and continue to grow even in the face of declining growth in the official economy in these countries (ie: the export, financial and real estate sectors)?
In the article from the Hindu it seems Indian banks remain confident growth in the microfinance sector will remain robust.
"We could nearly double our MFI portfolio over the last year. We have been working closely with 30 top MFIs to finance their projects and look forward for more such tie-ups in the future," ICICI Bank General Manager (Agri, Rural and Micro Banking) Kumar Ashish said.
Foreign banks too...
"We are shortly launching a project in rural Maharashtra with a leading MFI... HSBC assists the MFIs to build up a strong business model in a number ways," HSBC Group General Manager and CEO Naina Lal Kidwai said.
What do you think?
About the Hindu
The Hindu, started in 1878 as a weekly, became a daily in 1889 and from then on has been steadily growing to the current circulation of around 11,80,000 copies and a readership of about 4.05 million.
The Hindu's independent editorial stand and its reliable and balanced presentation of the news have over the years, won for it the serious attention and regard of the people who matter in India and abroad.
The Hindu uses modern facilities for news gathering, page composition and printing. It is printed in twelve centres including the Main Edition at Chennai (Madras) where the Corporate Office is based. The printing centres at Coimbatore, Bangalore, Madurai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Vizag, Thiruvanathapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangalore and Tiruchirapalli are connected with high speed data lines for news transmission across the country.
India's Microfinance sector is doing well, so well that the leading private and foreign banks in the country are planning to increase their MFI operations.
This article from the Hindu, MFI institutions are usually "fund-starved" in even the best of times due to the incredible demand that is unleashed as soon micro-credit becomes available to dis-enfranchised poor working within the context of a extra-legal economy.
"Despite the financial crisis, MFIs have been the least affected as they have managed to maintain the quality of the business. RBS will continue to expand its MFI portfolio and expects to grow the size to Rs 450 crore by the fiscal-end," RBS Vice-President Moumita Sen Sarma said.
Additionally the lender does not expect any deterioration in the asset quality of MFI units in 2009-10.
The question I ask to those interested in starting a discussion is how long can the Microfinance sectors in developing nations go unaffected by the greater global recession and continue to grow?
Microfinance generally targets the poor people in countries where poor do not have access to modern financial instruments like loans, savings accounts. Many times they lack access to even the most simple of modern technologies, like a cell phone.
Is it possible for Microfinance to "feed itself?"
Consider this cycle. A poor migrant has just emigrated from the Andes mountains to Lima, Peru. After years of struggling to make ends meet, living in a hut constructed out of garbage on a sand dune in the Atacama desert, this woman secures a loan to buy a blender. She can now make tasty juices from all of Peru's delicious fruits that she can sell to people waiting for the bus in her shanty town (Pueblo Jovenes as they are called in Lima).
Technically speaking wealth and economic activity have been produced in this corner of Peru's extralegal sector. This woman is able to pay back her loan with interest so that the lender makes money, she is able to earn a new stream of revenue which she can then spend in the greater economy on goods and services and maybe, just maybe she will eventually be able to afford something like schooling for her children.
How long can this last? Even if money is made available for Microfinance, how long will those workers waiting for the bus in the Shantytown remain employed? If they do lose their jobs does this mean the demand for juice will disapear? Or is there such a high demand for simple services like cold juice in the extra-legal economy that this woman who took out a micro-loan will continue to be able to do business?
Is demand from the underbelly of the world's developing nations so great that it can support itself and continue to grow even in the face of declining growth in the official economy in these countries (ie: the export, financial and real estate sectors)?
In the article from the Hindu it seems Indian banks remain confident growth in the microfinance sector will remain robust.
"We could nearly double our MFI portfolio over the last year. We have been working closely with 30 top MFIs to finance their projects and look forward for more such tie-ups in the future," ICICI Bank General Manager (Agri, Rural and Micro Banking) Kumar Ashish said.
Foreign banks too...
"We are shortly launching a project in rural Maharashtra with a leading MFI... HSBC assists the MFIs to build up a strong business model in a number ways," HSBC Group General Manager and CEO Naina Lal Kidwai said.
What do you think?
About the Hindu
The Hindu, started in 1878 as a weekly, became a daily in 1889 and from then on has been steadily growing to the current circulation of around 11,80,000 copies and a readership of about 4.05 million.
The Hindu's independent editorial stand and its reliable and balanced presentation of the news have over the years, won for it the serious attention and regard of the people who matter in India and abroad.
The Hindu uses modern facilities for news gathering, page composition and printing. It is printed in twelve centres including the Main Edition at Chennai (Madras) where the Corporate Office is based. The printing centres at Coimbatore, Bangalore, Madurai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Vizag, Thiruvanathapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangalore and Tiruchirapalli are connected with high speed data lines for news transmission across the country.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Japanese launch job hunt rallies - Reuters
Feb 5 - Cheerleaders are being used to drum up enthusiasm among students poised to enter the jobs market in Tokyo.
Such pep rallies are more traditionally held to drum up enthusiasm and support for political causes and sports teams but several colleges and vocational schools in Tokyo are using them to build up job hunting momentum among their students.
Paul Chapman reports. -- Reuters
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