An Update on Stimulus Packages

Over the past year, the massive economic stimulus packages put together by policymakers around the globe have been grabbing the headlines, most notably from the United States, China and Japan. According to the latest estimates from IMF, Asian governments have pledged to pump over USD 950 billion into their economies through increased expenditure, tax cuts and cash hand-outs. And if we look closer at the figures, we would notice that fiscal stimulus in Asia is larger than other parts of the world. China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia have all announced fiscal packages of more than 4% of GDP, twice as large as US’s stimulus this year.

Many governments in Asia have come up with plans to lend a helping hand to the shipping or shipbuilding industry – sectors that they consider to pivotal to their country’s economic well being. Continue Reading