Today there are 172 central banks and over recent years the number of central banks that claim some degree of independence within government has steadily increased. More central banks have become independent in the 1990s than in any other decade since World War II. Changes in Britain, Japan and continental Europe made 1998 a banner year in the history of central bank independence.
We now expect economic growth to be between 0.5% and 1% in 2010 and between 2% and 2.5% for 2011. We therefore see some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel but one is not sure how helpful this new found optimism would be for the manufacturing sector.