Forex
Dollar interest rates seen firming up further
THE Fed Chairman, Mr. Alan Greenspan's Humphrey-Hawkins Testimony to the House was the major highlight last week. The testimony charted a buoyant outlook for the US economy, which did not surprise financial markets and was delivered in a hawkish tone wit h Mr. Greenspan underlining that ``risks appear to remain on the side of heightened inflation pressures''.

Japan's recovery: Fleeting as it appears
THE Japanese economy had shown signs of turning around last year when it showed strong growth in the first half of this fiscal year. At that time the market seemed enthused with the future growth prospects. There was a sharp drop in Japanese overseas inv estment with domestic investors hoping to ride the economic recovery at home. The Ministry of Finance data released last week shows a drop of almost 30 per cent in such investment in 1999 over the previous year.

Oil: A price retreat will be great for INR
THE OPEC community meets at Vienna on March 27 to consider a vociferous worldwide demand to roll back oil production cutbacks instituted a year ago. It will likely accede to the demand partially. This will pull back and help stabilise international oil p rices. Whatever the popular perception, such an outcome is unlikely to affect the medium-term growth prospects of the Gulf nations. Meanwhile, it will come as a huge source of relief to South Asian nations this year.

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