President of the Euro Group Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday that the euro zone was about to suffer a economic recession and called for measures to boost economies, 1news.az reports.
At the press conference in Luxembourg, he said that consolidation of budgets is the only solution. He reminded that many experts had noted a recession in the euro zone in Q4 2011 and pointed out ratings of Standard & Poor's.
The rating agency lowered its rating of 17 states of the euro zone, including France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. It took rating actions for 16 states. Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and Netherlands were given AAA credit rating. France and Austria dropped to AA+
Russian former Finance Minister and Vice-Premier Alexey Kudrin predicted income from petroleum exports of $400 billion in 2012, he said at the Dagestani State University.
$50 billion had been earned from petroleum sales in 2000, $100 billion three years later, $200 billion three years later, and $400 billion are predicted in 2012, Kudrin said in Makhachkala on January 14. This could strengthen the ruble.
Commenting on inflation, Kudrin said that the lowest rate was registered prior to recession at 9%, then 13%. Inflation reached about 6.1% in 2011, the lowest rate in the last 20 years. The money volume in the economy increased by 31% in 2011.
Russia and its BRICS partners remain the economic boosters. China had a GDP rate of 8.4%, India - 6.5%, Brazil - 3.4%. The G7 is expected to have an average rate of 1.6%, US - 2.0%.
Dropping oil prices may cause a reduction of the GDP rate by over 4%. The peak indicators of energy resources dropped by 10%, metals and minerals - by 25%, agricultural products - by 19%.
WB specialists believe that a barrel of oil will be sold at an average of $98.2 in 2012 and $97.1 in 2013. It was sold for $104 in 2011.
The World Bank said that exports of goods and services increased by 6.6% in 2011, compared with 12.4% in 2010. The indicator is expected to drop to 4.7% in 2012.
