South Africa has shelved plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund - which will manage the country’s foreign reserves - due to declining metal prices.
“The creation of a sovereign wealth fund is best timed with stable or rising commodity prices,” Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said in a written reply to a parliamentary question published on his ministry’s website on Monday…………………………………Full Article: Source

The government has quietly dropped plans to establish a South African sovereign wealth fund originally mooted to help manage the country’s foreign reserves and to stabilise the value of the rand.
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, in reply to Freedom Front Plus MP Corné Mulder, said the creation of such a fund “is best timed with stable or rising commodity prices. In light of market conditions, no immediate steps are contemplated”………………………………..Full Article: Source

Developed and developing countries alike have established sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) to manage surplus state income. These funds have great potential to help fragile states manage high revenue inflows from lucrative natural resources and protect their economies from volatility and unsustainable investments.
But governments of fragile states that have recently established an SWF or are considering creating one should proceed with caution: to be successful, SWFs must be well managed, subscribe to international standards, make wise investments, and adhere to strict regulatory frameworks. Not all fragile states are capable of doing those things………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Kingdom can reduce its dependence on oil revenues by creating a strong sovereign wealth fund (SWF), according to some experts. Although economic conditions in Saudi Arabia like money supply, foreign exchange reserves, external debt and domestic economic development are positive factors to create a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), Saudi Arabia still lags behind in this area, one of them said.
Experts acknowledged that Saudi Arabia doesn’t prefer sovereign wealth funds like some GCC states that moved toward setting up SWFs as a main source of the economy. Fahad Al-Turki, head of research department, Jadwa Investments, said it was unfair to compare the SWF of the Kingdom with that of the other GCC states, especially when Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) manages Saudi sovereign wealth……………………………………Full Article: Source

Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management expect to secure the $500m in financing needed to launch a real estate fund to help recapitalise stalled or semi-complete projects in Dubai by the end of 2013.
“Right now we are dealing with the licence at the DIFC [Dubai International Financial Centre]… If you mean launch as in active marketing and legally able to do it, we will hit that point right before Ramadan,” Douglas Kirkman, CEO of ICD-Brookfield Management Limited and manager of the ICD-Brookfield Dubai Real Estate Fund, said……………………………………Full Article: Source

Despite a projection that Nigeria’s external reserves might rise to an average of between $80 and $85 billion in the next four years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against the negative impact of the declining oil price in recent times, saying the country’s Excess Crude Account could be depleted under a year. The IMF’s Senior Resident Representative in Nigeria, Scott Rogers, gave the warning while presenting highlights of the Staff Report on the 2012 Article IV Consultation, to be published soon by the Fund.
According to Mr. Rogers, a decline in international oil prices to $97 per barrel (annual average) would begin to erode the ECA balances, while a fall to $80-85 is capable out wiping out ECA balances within a year; pointing out that with lower oil revenue and expenditure restraint by government, “fiscal deficits are projected to re-emerge.”…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Finance Ministry has opposed creation of a $10 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to acquire oil and gas and fertiliser assets abroad, saying the country did not have sufficient foreign currency to support the fund. At a recent meeting called by PM’s principal secretary Pulok Chatterjee, departments of economic affairs and expenditure were of the opinion that cash-rich PSUs should use their reserves and decide independently on overseas acquisition on commercial terms, official sources said.
Planning Commissioned had mooted setting aside of $10 billion from the nation’s foreign-exchange reserves and creating a sovereign wealth fund to secure energy assets overseas………………………………………..Full Article: Source

“The sovereign wealth fund is definitely a mechanism that can break the link between these huge inflows and the exchange rate,” IMF Senior Economist Jaime Guajardo said in an interview last week.
The Philippines has been buoyed by robust BPO earnings that hit $13 billion last year, up by 18.18%. Overseas remittances totalling $21.391 billion, up 6.3% from 2011 and breaching the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 5% growth target, also provided a boost………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has been discussed several times in the past is now back on the table because government officials believe that India as a sovereign should acquire assets abroad especially in coal, oil and gold space. It is expected that a meeting later this week will be held between the Prime Minister, the National Security Advisor and officials of the finance ministry.
However, with wide current account deficit (CAD), forex reserve is a problem, so the the finance ministry is contemplating an option whereby forex reserves will not be used for the Sovereign Wealth Fund, on the other hand the fund can go ahead and raise its own capital with some amount of seed money………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Senegal has a new sovereign wealth fund. Who knew? Not me. I only learned of the new SWF yesterday when someone asked me, “How’s Senegal’s new SWF coming along?” To which I replied: [shoulder shrug]. As it turns out, however, Senegalese MPs voted to create a new “Strategic Investment Fund” (FONSIS) back in December, and the government of Senegal now lists the new SWF as one of its Grands Projets.
So, this is clearly legit. And that means I need to do some homework! Upon further scrutiny, the FONSIS looks and feel more like a ’sovereign development fund” than a traditional sovereign wealth fund, as the motivation for launching this vehicle is to unlock foreign direct investment to revitalize the Senegalese economy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A former central bank governor has suggested the Bank of Thailand step into the foreign exchange market rather than slash the policy rate to curb the baht’s strength.
MR Chatumongkol Sonakul, who was also the central bank’s board chairman until last year, recommends using part of the country’s US$200 billion in international reserves, representing 60% of gross domestic product, to create a sovereign wealth fund and use it as a tool to intervene in the foreign exchange market. The baht, emerging as Asia’s strongest currency against the greenback this year, reached a fresh 16-year high of 28.61-28.65 last Friday, before weakening to 28.67/69………………………………………..Full Article: Source

They may be on opposite sides of the Earth, but Chile in Latin America and Central Asia’s sparsely populated Mongolia share more than a few similarities. Both boast some of the biggest copper deposits in the world and now Mongolia has turned to Chile for advice on how best to steward income from its forecast bounty that stretches out beneath the Gobi desert.
It is sourcing help from one of the architect’s of Chile’s rocketing $22.9-billion sovereign fund. Eric Parrado, former international financial coordinator at Chile’s ministry of finance and now advising other emerging economies on the steps to managing resource wealth, has become synonymous with Chile’s global reputation on wealth fund expertise…………………………………Full Article: Source

The prime minister’s office does not agree with the finance ministry position that the country does not have enough foreign exchange to set up a sovereign wealth fund. Prime minister Manmohan Singh is keen on creating a $100 billion fund. Finance minister P Chidambaram will soon meet the prime minister to discuss the next steps towards creating the fund. “Inputs from various ministries have been received. The prime minister will now give a final directive,” says an official.
At a recent meeting chaired by the prime minister’s principal secretary Pulok Chatterjee, finance ministry officials said that the foreign exchange was not enough for the fund…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Given the revenue account deficit and apprehensions of devaluation of rupee vis-a-vis dollar resulting in worsening fiscal deficit, the government has put the proposal of constituting a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) to acquire assets abroad on the back burner.
“Constitution of a SWF is possible and desirable only when the current account is surplus and investing funds in acquiring assets abroad, based on commercial decisions, give better returns as against putting these funds in treasury,” the finance ministry conveyed at a recent meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). HT is in possession of the minutes of the meeting held in the PMO…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Angola said on Tuesday it missed its own deadline to publish an investment policy for a planned $5 billion sovereign wealth fund due to a legal challenge, slowing efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
Africa’s second-largest oil producer announced plans for the fund in October, to invest in everything from water projects to sub-Saharan hotels. It has made little progress since, frustrating investors who had hoped for clearer signals on potential spending…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Israel is on its way to launching a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), designed to prevent a steep appreciation of the shekel following the country’s plans to allow access to its natural gas fields.
The country’s cabinet voted to re-approve the establishment of a SWF, after the initial proposal from the previous administration failed to be passed by the Knesset - the Israeli legislative branch of government which passes all laws - before its election in January…………………………………….Full Article: Source

So our old friends from Malaysia’s 1MDB are back again, or should I say were back again, since the US$3bn 10-year private placement arranged for the government investment vehicle by Goldman Sachs was closed in conspicuous silence some weeks ago – on March 29 to be precise.
The under-the-radar modus operandi mirrored that seen on the US$1.75bn 10-year private placement Goldman closed for 1MDB last June. As with that deal, the new transaction is likely spark controversy, not just because of the quiet manner in which it was completed but because it comes barely three weeks before Malaysia’s general election on May 5………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Israel’s cabinet on Sunday re-approved the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund to prevent a steep appreciation of the shekel once natural gas fields start to generate high levels of income. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer has called for a sovereign wealth fund similar to Norway’s to safeguard the billions of dollars in windfall natural gas revenue.
Israel wants to avoid the so-called Dutch Disease, whereby a sudden explosion in national wealth overheats the currency and undermines export industries………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The creation of an Israeli sovereign wealth fund for revenue from natural-gas discoveries will help the government manage currency-market expectations, a top adviser to the prime minister said.
A draft law creating the fund was approved in principle today by the Cabinet, said Eugene Kandel, head of the National Economic Council. While the fund will probably enjoy income only in 2016 or 2017, the government is rushing to prepare the framework for its operation now, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The government approved the creation of a sovereign wealth fund to manage profits from Israel’s natural gas fields and prevent the influx of dollars from overvaluing the shekel. But the fund’s creation only becomes final after the Knesset legislates it.
Many states that discover large natural resource reserves set up such funds to avoid what economists call “Dutch disease.” Selling natural gas on the world market would flood Israel’s economy with dollars, making them cheap relative to the shekel. A strong shekel, in turn, would make Israeli goods more expensive on the world market, hurting exports………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank of PNG deputy governor Benny Popoitai is confident that the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) will be up and running before first LNG exports next year. “We hope to have the legislation amended to effect the changes so that we can establish the SWF and have it running before the LNG revenue hits our coffers,” he said.
“The SWF has its own challenges. We’re gone through several changes and different people have different views, but the intent is to stabilise the economy. How the money is spent is something else. The primary objective of the SWF is to give stability to the economy to prevent what we call the Dutch Disease, too much money chasing too few goods in the country, thereby increasing prices through the roof……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund had assets under management of more than $100 billion, helping the Gulf nation’s pursuit of a AAA credit rating, according to the Qatar Financial Centre Authority.
A rating upgrade is possible because of the nation’s financial strength, Abdulrahman Ahmad Al-Shaibi, managing director of the government-run authority charged with expanding the nation’s financial services, said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A new sovereign wealth fund backed Qatari investment fund worth US$12 billion would undertake an initial public offering by May. This is part of the Gulf kingdom’s plan to share its wealth with its citizens and institutions.
The fund is Doha Global Investment Co and would have a total capitalization of Eur9.6 billion, where 50% would be paid up capital. This was confirmed by Hussain Ali Al Abdulla, the chairman of Qatar Exchange’s board of directors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Is it possible to avoid squandering such a windfall, especially for a territory of fewer than 3,000 people? That’s what the Falklanders asked the Norwegians, who in 1990 started what is now the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.
With 4 trillion kroner ($715 billion) in assets, it returned 13.4 percent in 2012. The Falklands fund will never reach that scale, but if the islanders can replicate the Norwegians’ prudent management, they’ll be satisfied. The bottom line: Argentina still claims the Falklands, which are worth a lot more now that 400 million barrels of oil have been found near the islands………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government must throw caution into the air and take great risks in pushing through with the planned creation of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) if it is serious in sustaining the country’s strong financial standing, Liberal Party senatorial candidate Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said today.Magsaysay stressed an SWF would not only strengthen the country’s resilient economic growth but expand and boost competition among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“In order for us to sustain our economic advances, we must make our entrepreneurs bigger. There are thousands of entrepreneurs and SMEs all over the countryside. Many of them are doing well but they lack necessary financial requirements to further improve their businesses,” Magsaysay said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Liberal Party senatorial candidate Ramon Magsaysay Jr. on Wednesday said the government should take risks in creating a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to sustain the country’s strong financial standing. Magsaysay emphasized that the SWF will not only stabilize the country’s resilient economic growth but will also help expand and boost competition among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are said to be responsible for driving innovation in many economic sectors.
“In order for us to sustain our economic advances, we must make our entrepreneurs bigger. There are thousands of entrepreneurs and SMEs all over the countryside. Many of them are doing well but they lack necessary financial requirements to further improve their businesses,” Magsaysay said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It’s time that US taxpayers received some rewards for helping to shoulder huge macroeconomic risks, according to Miles Kimball. Could a US sovereign wealth fund be the solution?
At its inception, a US sovereign wealth fund would be established by issuing $1trn worth of low-interest safe Treasury bonds and investing those funds in high-expected-return risky assets. That takes those risky assets out of the hands of private investors and puts safe assets in their hands instead………………………………………..Full Article: Source

How has Norway managed to create a fund, called the Norwegian Government Pension Fund now containing about $654 billion (as of September 2012) while Alaska’s Permanent Fund only contains about $42 billion (as of August 2012)?
I know the federal government’s share of the Alaskan oil revenue pie, and the Alaska budget reserve fund (among other revenue receiving destinations) need to be factored in to begin to make an apples to apples comparison of these funds, but how can the roughly $600 billion difference be accounted for?……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Last week, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) a government-owned entity closely-linked to premier Najib Abdul Razak had a change at its helm. Hazem Abdul Rahman has now taken over the chief executive officer (CEO) role from Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, who has joined the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu).
Surprisingly, no announcements were made and it was via a news report that the update was disseminated. For a high-profile government-owned body which has made billions of ringgit in investments and issued large amounts of bonds, we would have expected more………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Where should the line be drawn between a government official’s personal wealth and his or her public responsibilities? Amidst promises to use his own cash to stimulate business investment, compensate storm victims and prop up the state budget, billionaire Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is making any distinction ever blurrier.
Since becoming prime minister in October 2012, Ivanishvili has repeatedly announced plans for three, new government-run investment funds: a $2-billion sovereign wealth fund, an agriculture fund and a venture capital fund. The first would control state assets like the railway and the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation; the second aid Georgia’s ailing agricultural sector; and the third provide public investment for new business……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Cypriot parliament passed emergency legislation relating at setting up the groundwork for a bailout deal. These bills include the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, nationalization of pension assets and imposing strict limits on the movement of capital.
The Eastern Mediterranean Sea has offshore gas deposits; capital-intensive infrastructure is needed to extract the gas and transport it. The future sovereign wealth fund of Cyprus has a long way to go to receive funding from offshore gas deposits………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With an improving fiscal situation, the national government is considering establishing a sovereign wealth fund that it can use for various investments, the profits of which can be tapped for various development projects.
This was according to Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., who said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas would be willing to sell dollars to the national government should the creation of the fund be pursued and should foreign currency-denominated assets be considered among the investment options. “The government is looking into it [creation of the fund]; it is very much on the drawing board right now,” the BSP governor said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has offered to sell US dollars to the National Government to capitalize the proposed sovereign wealth fund. On the sidelines of the national convention of the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB), BSP Governor Amando V. Tetangco Jr. said the country’s economic team led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima is proposing to establish a sovereign wealth fund, which would be government’s tool to make investments in the open or international market as another instrument for raising funds.
However, the wealth fund must be capitalized with US dollars. “If the government decides to put up the wealth fund, we can sell them the dollars which they can use to fund their operations especially overseas,” Tetangco said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The establishment of a sovereign wealth fund is still “on the drawing board,” but if one is set up the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas can sell dollars to the government, the head of the central bank said Wednesday.
“As the Secretary of Finance has mentioned, it is still in the early stages. So it’s very much on the drawing board right now. Based on the study, they’ll be able to determine whether that is something that the government would want to establish,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said on the sidelines of the Chamber of Thrift Banks annual convention in Makati………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The publicly circulated idea that, in its attempt to sort out the old dispute over Rompetrol Rafinare, the Romanian state would be well advised to jointly set up an investment fund with KazMunaiGas, is a good initiative, an ‘out of the box’ solution.
An investment fund that will start with 150 million dollars, seeking to attain one billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Economic managers are studying the possibility of setting up a Philippine sovereign wealth fund to maximize returns from the country’s foreign exchange holdings. “As I understand, the national government is conducting a study on the possible operations of a sovereign wealth fund,” central bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. said at the sidelines of yesterday’s Philippine Investment Forum.
Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima confirmed that the plan was being considered, although he said the review remained in the preliminary stages. “We haven’t brought up the matter with [President Benigno S. C. Aquino III] yet. So far, it’s just look, see, study and evaluate,” Mr. Purisima said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The finance ministry has scrapped a proposal to set up a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) because there was “no need for it”, at least for now. The ministry said the domestic markets have enough depth for the government to borrow funds to finance the fiscal deficit, and companies can tap external markets for borrowings.
“At the moment, we are not planning an SWF. We don’t think there is a need for it,” Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told Business Standard. There was never a plan to set up an SWF, he said. “There were discussions. Plan means we decided and shelved it.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

In the coming decade, Africa will become the largest sponsor of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) on the planet.You probably find it a bit odd that the poorest continent in the world would have the highest number of sovereign wealth funds. But this popularity specifically reflects the struggles that African countries have had with their resource revenue management and, moreover, their desire to break free of the resource curse and grow.
Indeed, the countries above have made the decision to create these special purpose investment vehicles to help them more professionally manage their sovereign assets, and, personally, I think they’re absolutely right to do so. A sovereign wealth fund is an important part of a broad institutional toolkit for resource revenue management………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Criticized by political opponents and human-rights groups for its secretive finances and super-rich political elite, Angola recently set up a sovereign-wealth fund to deploy oil revenue on behalf of the poor.
While the move by President José Eduardo dos Santos has led some observers to praise the new fund as a welcome step, critics are complaining about his choice to help run the fund: his 35-year-old son…………………………………..Full Article: Source

An idea born more out of hubris than good sense is bound to die an unsung death. And so it is with the much-touted India sovereign wealth fund (SWF). The idea was dusted up in the first years of UPA-2, where the government assumed that 9-10 percent growth was a given, and thus India can dream big on the world stage, buying this oilfield and that coalfield. But we now know that the dream was unreal.
Living consistently beyond our means has impoverished not only the exchequer, but the country as well. We are now down to a new normal growth of 5 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The proposal of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to create a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has been scrapped following overall assessment that India does not have sufficient foreign exchange to support it.
The most vocal resistance came from the Finance Ministry, with both the economic affairs and expenditure departments saying cash-rich PSUs should use their reserves and decide independently on commercial terms. “In the prevailing situation… it would be more advisable if PSUs with surplus funds and technical know-how take independent decisions to invest in acquiring assets based on commercial gains,” said the economic affairs department at a meeting held by the principal secretary to the PM………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Qatar Holding, a unit of the Gulf Arab state’s sovereign wealth fund, will launch a new investment firm worth $12 billion to purchase assets globally, a top official said on February 19. Qatar Holding vice-chairman, Hussain al-Abdullah, who is also a board member of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), said the company would be listed on the Doha stock exchange in six to eight weeks.
“You name it - shares, bonds, real estate, private equity. We will look at every sector in every country around the world,” he told reporters in the Qatari capital………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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I knew for a fact that even after Obasanjo left office, foreign reserves accretion continued and peaked at almost $63 billion in September 2008.
It was only after the global economy went into a tailspin, oil prices crashed from a peak of $147 per barrel attained in July 2008, the US government allowed Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers to fail two months later, and foreign investors exited the Nigerian equities market in droves during the same period, that the country’s foreign reserves took a beating………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The $1 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) will operate in accordance with the agenda set up for it, and will become operational by the end of next month, the federal government stated.
Minister of finance and the coordinating minister for the economy (CME) Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, at the end of the second meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) in 2013 at the presidential villa, Abuja, that the operation of the fund will be in three areas: Stabilization Fund, Infrastructure Fund and Future Generation Fund……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Federal Government of Nigeria on Thursday confirmed the operational pattern of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) which is expected to take off next month and the appointment of a leading financial services firm, JP Morgan, as the custodian. The government also dismissed as untrue the reported disagreement between it and the 36 state governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors Forum over its take off.
The Fund’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Unche Orji, who spoke to journalists at the end of the National Economic Council meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said the Fund was going on as planned as government was determined to ensure that it becomes operational by March ending……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth fund (SWF) will begin full operations by the end of next month, its Chief Executive Officer, Uche Orji, has said. He disclosed this to State House correspondents yesterday at the end of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Orji, who briefed journalists alongside Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State; Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and the Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, had ealier given a progress report of the fund at the NEC meeting. He said the Fund was in the process of puting its full complement of staff in place by March, when limited security investment would begin……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar is starting a $12 billion investment fund to buy distressed assets abroad in a bid to profit on the weakness of global markets. Qatar is joining several other players, including American and Chinese funds also targeting financial assets of foreign companies on the edge of bankruptcy or those already going through it.
The Doha Global Investments fund will receive $3 billion from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund’s unit Qatar Holding LLC, Bloomberg reports. It will operate separately from the country’s sovereign wealth fund, although the two funds could take joint actions on many investments. It also plans to offer $3 billion in shares for the local investors to buy over the next six to eight weeks……………………………………Full Article: Source

The Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSDEA), created by the Executive to promote the country’s socio-economic development and generate wealth for the future generations was mentioned as a reference during a lecture held recently in the Canadian city of Toronto.
Addressing the meeting, Madelaine Drohan, Canadian writer and correspondent for the magazine “The Economist”, said her country has no such a fund, but countries like Norway, East Timor and Angola, being more prudent, have decided to create a sovereign fund. ………………………………………Full Article: Source

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It is not unfair to assert that sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states serve as a blessing for the well-being of global economy at large. This declaration reflects some hard facts, namely SWF’s amount on the one hand and willingness of GCC authorities to relocate the wealth in the form of investments in different sectors across the continents. This amounts to sharing wealth of GCC countries with others, clearly an internationally-responsible conduct.
The combined SWFs of the six-nation grouping amounted to a staggering $1.7 trillion by-end 2012. This represents a comfortable 35 per cent of all SWFs in the world, collectively valued at $5.2 trillion. Effectively, GCC countries account for almost all contributions of the Middle East region………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Monetary Fund says Canada could better manage boom-and-bust commodities cycles by stashing away more tax revenue in good times.
Both Ottawa and the resource-rich provinces should make better use of so-called “stabilization funds” to manage the inevitable volatility in the price of oil, natural gas, coal and other commodities, the Washington-based lender said in its annual report on the Canadian economy………………………………………Full Article: Source