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OPEC cuts 2020 global oil demand growth forecast by 920K bpd

The latest from OPEC

In other times that would be a shocking drop but now it sounds behind the curve. Obviously demand is going to fall much more in a global pandemic.
  • Saudi Arabia pumped 9.68 mbpd in Feb
  • Cuts non-OEPC supply estimate by 490K bpd to 1.76 mbpd
WTI crude oil is down $1.18 to $33.17 today and is just off session lows. There’s been no reaction to this news.

IMF says monetary easing unlikely to make a lasting improvement in trade balance

Exchange rates can’t do it all

The IMF is out with a blog post about the effectiveness of using monetary policy to weaken a currency and boost exports.
“One should not put too much stock in the view that easing monetary policy can weaken a country’s currency enough to bring a lasting improvement in its trade balance,” the authors write.
They estimate that a 10% decline in a country’s currency improves the trade balance by about 0.3% of GDP in the near-term, largely via a contraction in imports. Over three years the effect is larger and hits an average of 1.2% of GDP.
One thing they highlight is that much international trade is done in US dollars. This slows and limits the effects of weakening the currency.

World Bank Sees Dollar Reserve Status Ending Over Next Decade

 GDH-MainMessages

In a report released yesterday titled “Multipolarity: The New Global Economy“, that other “bailout” organization, the World Bank, says that due to the developing world’s pronounced greater growth curve through 2025 (expected to grow at 4.7% compared to 2.3% for the developed countries), the outcome will be that “The balance of global growth and investment will shift to developing or emerging economies.” More importantly, as the FT summarized, a “different international monetary system will gradually evolve, wiping out the US dollar’s position as the world’s main reserve currency.”  As a result of these “inevitabilities” (which will be interested to see how they are attained considering according to a recent report, the world will need to double its debt to double it GDP, so where all this new debt will come from we don’t really know), there are three potential scenarios: i) A status quo centered on the US dollar, ii) A system with the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as the main international currency, iii) A multicurrency system. And while this obviously covers every possible outcome so absolutely no value added there, the WB is focused on outcome iii and believes that the dollar will gradually shift away from its current position of reserve currency prominence. This is not surprising: after all it is none other than World Bank president Robert Zoellick who recently predicted a return to the gold standard and an end to USD hegemony. Our advice to Bob: stay away from penthouse suites at the Sofitel. (more…)