Does any country get immunity from the global credit crisis and financial misery spreading around markets and exchange traded funds (ETFs)?
Apparently, China won’t find it in these troubling times and will continue to take hits from the crisis. But that being said, growth is expected to remain high overall. The key is for China to stay on top of their economy and to shift its economy to one that is fueled more by domestic demand than by exports, says the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
The economy there is key for the well-being of other countries and in the global scheme as many countries depend on continued growth in China, reports Sun Yunlong for China View on Xinhua Net.
The potential for China is not lost, as this nation has the capacity for both short- and long-term growth. Larry Edelson for Money & Markets says that over the long haul, Chinese companies and stocks are a “safer” investment along with gold and few select natural resource stocks, for now. Bear in mind that China now boasts some of the world’s healthiest banks with capital ratios much more appealing than those in the United States.
Brazil is another country that will be affected by the global turmoil, but the country’s strong economic fundamentals could help them to weather the storm better than most, Reuters reports.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva today authorized Brazil’s central bank to buy loans from cash-starved banks and indicated the government’s willingness to use the country’s international reserves to ease a credit crunch that sent the Brazilian real to its lowest level in two years.
The central bank has also announced that it may also lend dollars to Brazilian institutions abroad. The government is also going to provide the state developed bank with an additional $2.3 billion to finance exports. The measures are part of the process in keeping this emerging market safe from the eruption the developed markets have experienced, reports Edward Hugh for RGE Monitor.
Related ETFs:
- iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ), down 59% year-to-date (black line)
- iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI), down 48.2% year-to-date (green line)