The Goat straggles into 2015 amid rising risks

Now that the oil price has tumbled from an average of about US110 a barrel in the first half of 2014 to well below US90, Russia needs to avoid a recession and keep its budget in balance.

THE year 2015 is that of the lunar Wood Goat – renowned for moderation. In mid-November 2014, the world’s most powerful economies pledged in Brisbane “to lift G-20’s GDP by at least an additional 2% by 2018.… If fully implemented… this will add more than US$2 trillion to the global economy and create millions of jobs”.

Brave words indeed after acknowledging that “the global recovery is slow, uneven and not delivering the jobs needed.… Risks persist, including in financial markets and from geopolitical tensions”.