By Noah Barkin and Nick Antonovics
Reuters
Sunday, November 21, 2004
http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml? [1]
type=businessNews&storyID=6876144
BERLIN -- A communique from the G20 group of rich
and developing countries made no explicit reference
to currency swings on Sunday, despite mounting
concern in Europe and Japan over a slide in the U.S.
dollar to multi-year lows.
German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said he would
be lying if he said foreign exchange rates had not
been an issue at the meeting, but on currencies, the
communique simply called for greater flexibility in
emerging Asia.
It also urged U.S. budget consolidation and structural
reforms in Europe and Japan as steps necessary to
foster stability in markets.
The G20 statement said that the global economic
environment would remain positive in 2005 but cited
a number of risks to the outlook.
"We expect that the macroeconomic environment will
remain favorable in the next year. ... However, downside
risks have increased due to oil price volatility, persisting
external imbalances and geopolitical concerns," a copy
of the final communique read.
But the G20 stopped short of urging an end to the decline
in the dollar, which last week fell to a record low of
$1.3074 against the euro and is sitting at a nine-year low
against a basket of foreign currencies.
G20 countries had been at pains ahead of the meeting to
say it was not a forum for discussing exchange rates
and Eichel reiterated that line at a closing news
conference on the communique and refused to elaborate
when questioned repeatedly by reporters. A weak dollar
can hurt growth in exporting countries like Germany and
Japan by making goods they produce more expensive
abroad.
In an escalating war of words, European governments
have blamed the falling dollar on the huge U.S. budget
and current account deficits.
The United States, which remained silent for much of
the weekend meeting, struck back in a statement
released at the same time as the G20 communique,
saying all countries were responsible for boosting
growth and correcting trade imbalances.
"Addressing global imbalances in particular is a shared
challenge," U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said.
He said the United States was committed to cutting its
record budget deficit in half over 4 years through tight
spending restraint and steady growth.
"Growth among our trading partners -- including those
here in Europe also needs to increase and that requires
addressing structural barriers that stand in the way of
better performance."
Earlier this month, both Germany and France reported
unexpectedly feeble third quarter gross domestic product
growth of 0.1 percent.
One G20 participant said there was a consensus in
Europe that the weak third quarter had been an exception
and that growth would pick up going forward.
If that did not happen, however, he suggested there could
be scope for European interest rates to be lowered.
"There is a view that this option could be considered if the
weak third quarter growth was confirmed," the official said.
Asked if this was the view of European governments or
European Central Bank (ECB) officials in Frankfurt, he
replied: "I would hope both."
The United States has urged the ECB to cut interest rates
to boost growth, but it has resisted and the market
currently believes European rates will remain on hold for
the foreseeable future.
China, whose pegged yuan exchange rate is seen as
one of the reasons for the large U.S. current account
deficit, is also under some pressure to act to help
stabilize markets.
But the communique did not single the country out,
referring only to a broader need for flexibility in Asian
currencies.
The other preoccupation of the G20 has been the cost
of oil.
German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said at a closing
news conference that oil posed the most significant risk
to the global economic outlook.
In the communique, the G20 encouraged the promotion
of energy efficiency and sustainability, urged investment
in oil capacity and an increase in the dialogue between
consumers and producers.
----------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:
gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com [2]
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:
gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com [3]
----------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com [5]
http://www.gold-eagle.com/ [7]
http://www.GoldReview.com/ [11]
http://www.capitalupdates.com/ [12]
http://www.DailyReckoning.com [13]
http://www.goldenbar.com/ [14]
http://www.silver-investor.com [15]
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/ [16]
http://www.sharelynx.com/ [17]
http://www.mininglife.com/ [18]
http://www.financialsense.com [19]
http://www.goldensextant.com [20]
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html [21]
http://www.howestreet.com [22]
http://www.depression2.tv [23]
http://www.moneyfiles.org/ [24]
http://www.howestreet.com [22]
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html [25]
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html [26]
http://www.goldcolony.com [27]
http://www.miningstocks.com [28]
http://www.mineralstox.com [29]
http://www.freemarketnews.com [30]
http://www.SilverSeek.com [32]
http://www.investmentrarities.com [33]
http://www.kuik.com/KH/KH.html [34]
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm [35]
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm [36]
(In English)
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/ [37]
Subscription sites:
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/ [38]
http://www.goldinsider.com/ [39]
http://www.interventionalanalysis.com [41]
http://www.investmentindicators.com/ [42]
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm [43]
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/ [44]
----------------------------------------------------
COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS
Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com [45]
Centennial Precious Metals
3033 East 1st Ave., Suite 403
Denver, Colorado 80206
www.USAGold.com [46]
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
US (800) 869-5115
Canada 1-800-294-9462
European Union 00-800-2760-2760
Australia 0011-800-2760-2760
cpm@usagold.com [47]
Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
www.ColoradoGold.com [48]
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net [49]
El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net [50]
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net [51]
Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com [52]
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com [53]
Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com [54]
Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
www.certifiedcoins.com [55]
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com [56]
Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com [57]
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com [58]
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com [59]
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com [60]
Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com [61]
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com [62]
----------------------------------------------------
HOW TO HELP GATA
If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.
By check:
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA
By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:
http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html [63]
By GoldMoney:
http://www.GoldMoney.com [64]
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L
Donors of $750 or more will, upon request,
be sent a print of Alain Despert's colorful
painting symbolizing our cause, titled "GATA."
GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.