In the first year, Japan’s economy improved impressively, registering both rising growth and inflation. Real GDP growth in fiscal 2013 exceeded 2 percent and annual CPI inflation (consumer price index, all items less fresh food) increased from minus 0.5 percent just before the introduction of QQE to 1.5 percent in April 2014 (Chart 1).
Africa is changing fast. From the gloom and the conflict of the last decades we now have new hope and opportunity spreading across the whole continent. In some parts, it is not just a wind of change but a veritable tempest.