Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Worries About Economy

Like any other alliance of countries assessing the global economy the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) expressed worry about Europe, but did not provide any solutions. That is one more nail in the coffin of the eurozone which has looked to the rapidly growing nations of Asia as potential buyer of the sovereign debt of countries which include Spain and Italy.

In a summary of its September 8-9 meeting, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members said:

We welcome the European Leaders’ commitment to take all necessary measures to safeguard the integrity and stability of the Euro area. We remain committed to reducing imbalances by strengthening deficit economies’ public finances with sound and sustainable policies that take into account evolving economic conditions and, in economies with large current account surpluses, by strengthening domestic demand and moving toward greater exchange rate flexibility. We reaffirm our commitment to move more rapidly toward market-determined exchange rate systems and enhance exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying fundamentals, avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments, and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies. While capital flows can be beneficial to recipient economies, we reiterate that excess volatility of financial flows and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.

The statement was in among a number of others, and was given no priority over commitments to free trade, more stable global financial markets, and an acknowledgment of the world’s food supply problems

Douglas A. McIntyre