The latest data from Tokyo confirms that the Japanese economy has slipped into recession in the last six months and the development comes just as leaders of the G20 wrapped up their annual summit in Brisbane, Australia. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron is sounding suitably subdued over the United Kingdom’s prospects in the coming months. In Europe too, there are signs that the continent’s economy is again in for a turbulent ride. Germany, Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse, grew by just 0.1 per cent in the third quarter — an ominous portend that these are indeed worrying times.
At the Brisbane summit, the G20 leaders committed to a series of reform measures to lift their collective growth by an extra 2.1 per cent by 2018. And given the timing of all of the negative indicators, there is no room for anything other than full compliance to the so-called Brisbane Action Plan to keep the global economy ticking over on the positive side.
The measures are predicted to add $2 trillion (Dh7.35 trillion) to the global economy and create millions of jobs as well as helping to close a gap in infrastructure worth $70 billion by 2030. This will be achieved by cutting red tape and matching private investment with capital projects. It is all a taller order now. But the G20 leaders knew the size of the task before them in making the pledge. Now, they have to act quickly to edge back from the precipice of global recession.
