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(TALKZIMBABWE) Zim to perform better than Iceland in 2009: report

Zim to perform better than Iceland in 2009: report
Our reporter
Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:53:00 +0000

THE Republic of Iceland is forecast to be the worst performing economy in 2009 lower than sanctions-hit Zimbabwe, according to a survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister organisation to The Economist magazine.

According to the survey, the country will see growth shrink by nearly 10% following the spectacular collapse of its banks in the past few months during the global financial crisis.

The EIU predicts that among the 10 worst performing economies will be Britain and Ireland.

Zimbabwe is the only economy under sanctions to be included in the list; but is still predicted to perform better than Iceland in 2009.

The US introduced economic sanctions on Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) of 2001. Through this enactment Zimbabwe’s access to finance and credit facilities was effectively incinerated.

US companies are prohibited from doing business with “designated Zimbabwean companies”. These companies include the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe – a key institution in Zimbabwe, among others.

The European Union has also followed suit and currently listed a number of key and strategic companies that were instrumental in bringing foreign currency to Zimbabwe.

Other countries on the EIU list include Singapore, Estonia, Taiwan, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Latvia.

“Countries with free-falling currencies, burst housing bubbles and a heavy reliance on finance and trade will also suffer,” according to EIU.

“Qatar will grow by over 13%, and many sub-Saharan African countries will also perform strongly. China is still in the top ten but will grow at a considerably more sedate pace than in recent years. Global growth is set to be a feeble 0.9%.”

Sub-Saharan African countries are set to perform much better than Western countries, in comparative terms for the first time. Malawi, Angola, and Tanzania are predicted to outperform the US, Germany, Britain, France, etc.

Qatar and China are in the top 10 performing economies for that period.

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT, GDP, NEOLIBERALISM, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 10:43 PM