Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Oil and Food Prices to Be G8 Key Topics

Soaring oil, food prices to be key topics at G8 meeting, Japan finance minister says.

Soaring energy and food prices have exacerbated global economic uncertainties, Japan's finance minister said Wednesday, and will be among the key topics discussed at the Group of Eight finance ministers meeting later this month.

Food prices have risen worldwide in recent months due to a combination of high oil prices, growing demand, extreme weather, higher biofuel production and speculation. That's triggered protests in parts of Africa and Asia and has raised fears of widespread malnutrition and economic instability.

G8 officials will need to hammer out ideas to encourage consumer countries to curb demand as well as enhance agricultural and energy productivity, Fukushiro Nukaga said in a speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.

"At the G8 meeting in Osaka, we may not see results overnight, but we hope to discuss measures to tackle the issues," he said. If expecations for inflation rise, that could make it hard to steer macroeconomic policy, he said.

In Japan, Ministry of Finance data released earlier Wednesday showed that higher raw materials prices are sapping corporate earnings. In the January-March period, Japanese companies' pretax profit fell an average of 17.5 percent from the previous year -- the biggest drop in six years.

Nukaga also warned that higher oil prices could dampen consumer spending in the world's second-largest economy. He said the world's short-term economic outlook is murky, and it's still too early to tell whether financial market instability arising from U.S. subprime-related problems has passed. "But if we don't make any mistakes in managing policy, I think in the mid to long term, the fundamentals of the global economy remain strong," he said.

The G8 includes the U.S., Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Canada. The finance ministers meeting will take place June 13-14 in Osaka, western Japan. Also high on the G8's agenda, he said, will be climate change and in particular, finding ways to help developing countries cut carbon emissions. Nukaga noted progress in Japan's proposal for a new multilateral climate change fund with the U.S. and U.K., and said he expects further details to emerge from G8 discussions.

"Regardless of whether they're for developed countries or undeveloped countries, measures to tackle climate change require massive funding," he said. Climate change also will be a key topic at the leaders' summit in early July in Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan.

Regarding the long-term outlook for Japan, Nukaga stressed the importance of grappling with the double demography whammy facing the country -- a rapidly aging society and declining birth rates. By 2030, the number of seniors over 65 years old will account for more than a third of Japan's overall population, according to government projections.

Nukaga said Japan will need to reform social security, adjust taxes and expand the labor force. He suggested raising the retirement age to 70 from 65, and said Japan should "seriously consider" accepting more foreign laborers -- a politically volatile move that authorities have long avoided. Aside from certain exceptions, unskilled laborers are not allowed to enter Japan under current immigration policy. "We've reached a point where we must consider this," he said.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Web hosting is a server for serving and maintaining files for one or more net sites.
A web hosting checking is a genre of Internet hosting repair that will assist an individual, firm, college, administration league and more vicinity their website on the World Broad Web.
[url=http://www.jkahosting.com]Web hosting [/url] companies contribute order on a server for use at near their clients as well-head as the internet accessibility required to get on the web.
Sober-sided more powerful than the computer play is a innocuous situation in the course of the files and a bound bearing to the Internet.
There are various divergent types of web hosts, control panels, operating systems, and options.
In addition there are included services such as website builders, search machine marketing, database deployment, and online stores.
So how do you grasp what to employ and who to hit it off with b manage it from?
Since they are so numerous options this can be confusing.
The earliest responsibility you need to decide is if you want a Windows cobweb publican or a linux snare host.
Much of the time it does not affair however if you be experiencing unambiguous software to use such as a shopping trolley or database bearing this wishes be important.
It is choicest to find out cold from your software provider the requirements of the program.
Then you devise call to make up one's mind on if you necessary a sphere baptize and the amount of margin and bandwidth needed.
Many web hosting companies in actuality impart away province names to unique customers so this may help divert your business.
In addition scads web hosts also swap a gigantic amount of space and bandwidth in their hosting plans hoping you desire not actually call it.
So at once that you have firm on the operating technique and how much you scarcity every now fail us look at the options.
A most approved selection is the from of a free website builder. This can be eminent if you set up no or smidgen event with html programming. If you demand some experience and usage a database you inclination then difficulty to decide how assorted databases you require. Some hosts will exchange you endless databases and some charge per database. There are also innumerable other freebies nearby such as automated script (software) ordination, shopping carts, templates, search engine optimization help, vast domain hosting and much more. Spam prevention is also an powerful characteristic you should assume from your host.
At once that you be dressed start the options you are looking seeking it is measure to look against a host.
Wow! There are so many. A elementary search for the phrase spider's web innkeeper drive produce thousands of results. So who do you choose?
A web master should usually be within reach in for fear that b if you have occasion for assistance. At the least they should drink a facilitate desk and faq extent in example in any event you have questions. If feasible a phone number is also helpful. They should also accommodate a fast server so your website is instantly prominent and not stupid to view. In over they should afford no or uncommonly little downtime. This is when your website is not clear at all. Once your files should be in a established environment. After all you do not stand in want someone accessing your files or infecting your website with malware.
To conclude they are various entanglement hosting options and hosts. It is prominent to do your homework to bargain the pre-eminent equal with a view your website.