IMF says weaker dollar would help global growth

The International Monetary Fund called for a weaker dollar to help the United States reduce its deficits with the rest of the world and rebalance the global economy, in a report released Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund called for a weaker dollar to help the United States reduce its deficits with the rest of the world and rebalance the global economy.

In the report prepared for a Group of 20 finance chiefs meeting last week, the IMF said that its calculations showed the dollar remains "on the strong side" of medium-term fundamentals, while the euro and the Japanese yen were "broadly in line" and several Asian currencies, including China, were undervalued.
To address global imbalances, the G20 should allow the dollar to fall, the Washington-based institution said.
"Some further real effective depreciation of the US dollar would help ensure a sustained decline of the US current account deficit towards a level more consistent with medium-term fundamentals, helping to support more balanced growth," the IMF said.
The widening US current account deficit -- a broad measure of trade in goods, services, income and payment -- rose a fifth straight quarter in the third quarter last year, to $127.2 billion, according to the latest US official data.
The issue of a weak dollar is particularly sensitive in Brazil, where the government has said an international "currency war" is under way with the United States pumping cheap dollars into its post-crisis economy, while China's yuan sinks in tandem.
The IMF report was provided to finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 major developed and emerging economies for their meeting Friday and Saturday in Paris.
The G20 countries reached agreement on a series of economic indicators to measure imbalances within and between countries, with the goal of helping nations avoid a repeat of the problems at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis.
The IMF urged stepped-up G20 efforts to sustain the global economic recovery, citing elevated downside risks for advanced economies and "overheating" in some emerging economies.
Among the threats to global growth, the IMF highlighted "insufficient progress in developing medium-term fiscal consolidation plans, especially in the United States and Japan" and "sovereign and banking sector risks in the euro area periphery."
In emerging economies, the key policy challenge is to keep overheating pressures in check and respond appropriately to capital inflows, the IMF said.
"In key surplus economies, overheating pressures can be alleviated by permitting currency appreciation, facilitating a healthy rebalancing from external to internal demand."
The 187-nation institution also said it "appears highly unlikely" the United States would be able to meet its commitment to halve its budget deficit between 2010 and 2013, pledged at a G20 Toronto summit in June 2010

Election sub-committee begins preparations

The steering sub-committee on popularisation for the elections of the 13 th National Assembly and people’s councils at all levels for the 2011-16 term convened its first session in Hanoi on February. 23.
The meeting, chaired by Vice NA Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien, member of the Election Council, discussed and gave opinions on the draft plan and contents on popularisation for the upcoming elections and tasks for the sub-committee’s members.
Last month, the election council convened its first session, discussing its activities and a plan to organise a national conference on the national polls.
The council is scheduled to set up three sub-committees: the Popularisation Sub-Committee, the Steering Sub-Committee for Complaint Settlement, and the Social Order, Safety and Security Sub-Committee.
The election of the 13th NA and for People's Councils at all levels for the 2011-16 term will take place on the same day, May 22.

Apple invite hints at March 2 debut of new iPad

Apple on Wednesday sent out emailed invitations to a March 2 San Francisco press event hinting at the debut of a new version of its hot-selling iPad tablet computer.

Customers checking out Apple's iPad at a store in 2010.

The cryptic invitations provided the date, time and location of the event and show an image of a March 2 calendar page peeling back to reveal a corner of an iPad. The message on the page reads "Come see what 2011 will be the year of."
Technology analysts have taken to referring to 2011 as the "year of the tablet" with iPad dominating the category and competitors racing to market.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the iPad at a press event in San Francisco in January of last year.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Apple has started production of a thinner, more powerful version of its popular tablet computer.
The second-generation iPad is expected to have more memory and a front-facing camera for capabilities such as a FaceTime video-conferencing feature on Apple iPhone 4 smartphones.
Cupertino, California-based Apple said in its latest earnings release that it sold nearly 15 million iPads in the eight months after the tablet computers became available in the market in April of last year.
US telecom titan Verizon on Thursday will begin selling Motorola Mobility's hotly awaited "Xoom" tablet computer at a price close to that of a top-of-the-line iPad.
Xoom will be the first tablet on the market powered by "Honeycomb" software crafted specifically for such devices by Internet powerhouse Google and has been heralded as a viable challenger for Apple's market-ruling iPad.
Xoom will be sold for $800, but the price will be trimmed to $600 for those who opt for two-year service contracts with Verizon.
The six iPad models range in price from $500 to $830 with the three higher-priced models having 3G mobile telecom connection capabilities while the three less costly tablets only link to the Internet using Wi-Fi at hot spots.
With a 10.1-inch (25.6-centimeter) screen, the Xoom is about the same size as Apple's iPad.
Xoom also features a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats and a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera that captures video.
The Xoom tablet computer was crowned the best gadget at the giant Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month.
"This is really the next generation of tablets," Motorola Mobility device team head Alain Mutricy said as he held a Xoom in one hand at the awards ceremony.
"Our partnership with Google has been very intense and has enabled some great technology."