Buoyed by investor interest and hopes that the new government will lift the economy out of recession, the Brazilian real has seen gains of almost 24% against the American dollar in the past year.
Other emerging-market currencies have turned in strong performances against the dollar. This Statista chart from 18 October, based on the 30 currencies monitored by the Thomson Reuters Datastream, shows the Russian ruble up 16% and the South African rand up 8.1%.
At the other end of the scale is the Nigerian naira, in crisis after being hit by low oil prices.
The plunge of the British pound, meanwhile, following the Brexit vote, has made it one of the year’s worst-performing currencies.
As of 18 October, the pound’s year-to-date fall against the dollar was 17.3%.
Amid fears of a “hard Brexit”, investors have been shedding sterling. The currency is at a 31-year low against the dollar, and some analysts believe there may be further drops to come.
This past summer, the World Bank officially upgraded Cambodia to a “lower‑middle‑income country”, a move that confirms the country’s upwards economic trajectory over the past 20 years.
But despite this new status, which Cambodia shares with 51 other economies, including India, Vietnam and the Philippines, the country is still mostly associated with darker images: landmines, civil war and the Khmer Rouge regime. At best, perhaps, it’s seen as a new frontier destination for investment and tourism.
For development economists, though, this reclassification comes as no surprise: Cambodia’s economic development has earned it the title “olympian of growth” in some quarters, thanks to sustained double-digit growth between the years 1998 and 2015 (with the exception of 2009 and 2010, following the international financial crisis).
This rise is impressive not only for its rate but also for its resilience. The country has been growing at a stable rate over time, making it the world’s sixth-fastest‑growing economy. While some would argue that “it started at a low level, so it’s normal”, the uniqueness of Cambodia’s growth lies in its continuity over 20 years. Since 1950, only 13 economies in the world have grown at a rate above 7% per year for a quarter of a century or longer, and Cambodia is not an oil‑producing country. Its growth has been mostly driven by trade and by a buoyant demand for labour‑intensive manufactures (textiles and clothing), a booming tourism industry, growth in construction and, to a lesser extent, an increase in agricultural exports. New opportunities within the South-East Asian region have also emerged, fuelled by deeper integration in the ASEAN economic bloc.
GDP per capita has increased, inflation has been kept lower than 5% and the poverty rate has declined from 53% in 2004 to 16% in 2013. Yet there’s a long way to go before Cambodia achieves its vision of becoming an upper‑middle‑income nation and meeting all the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and turning into a developed country by 2050.
Source: WEF
The best Swedish rock band ever in my book is a group called KENT. It is one if my favourite bands of all times and I loved them from moment I first heard them play twenty years ago. I love their music.
KENT is the by far most popular vand in Sweden and Scandinavia and very successful.
Now the band has decided to stop and they are doing a farewell tour this autumn. I will miss them.
Tonight I, together with one of my daughters, went to Oslo in Norway and watched them play. It was a magic performance by the band.
I have seen many concerts but this could be the best ever.
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