98951 For more information, visit http://www.worldbank.org/prospects Taking Stock  Latest FOMC statement cleared path toward first rate hike since the 2008 financial crisis. On Wednesday, the Fed dropped its commitment to be “patient” in beginning to normalize monetary policy. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) stated that it will be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate (Figure 1) “when it has seen further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent objective over the medium term”. Following the dovish FOMC statement, U.S. Treasuries rallied with the benchmark 10-year note yields sliding to 1.92 percent on Wednesday from 2.05 percent before the statement. The dollar fell sharply, depreciating 1 percent against the euro at one point, before paring some of its losses.  Deflation continued in the Eurozone. In line with the flash estimate published earlier, Eurozone inflation remained negative for the third consecutive month. The harmonized index of consumer prices fell 0.3 percent (y/y) in February, following January's 0.6 percent decline. Consumer prices have been falling due to declining oil prices. The core inflation rate, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose to 0.7 percent in February from 0.6 percent in January.  Brazil’s outlook continued to dim. According to the latest weekly survey of economists released by its central bank, the Brazilian economy is expected to contract 0.8 (y/y) percent in 2015, more than the 0.7 percent decline forecast a week ago. Consumer and investor confidence has been hit hard by the Petrobras scandal. The IBC-Br economic activity index, a preliminary indicator of GDP growth, suggested that economic activity shrank 0.11 percent (m/m) in January, the second consecutive month of contraction (Figure 2). Meanwhile, the real has depreciated 18 percent since the start of the year and 12.5 percent in March alone.  South Africa’s inflation dipped to 4-year low. South Africa's consumer prices rose 3.9 percent (y/y) in February, slower than January's 4.4 percent increase, but higher than expected. The latest reading was the lowest since February 2011, when prices rose 3.7 percent. The low inflation rate was due to falling transport costs, which plunged 6.3 percent in February, following a 2.5 percent fall in January. FIGURE 1 U.S. Fderal Funds Rate FIGURE 2 IBC-Br Economic Activity Index The federal funds rate has remained unchanged since the 2008 Brazil’s economic activity index suggested activity shrank 0.11 financial crisis percent in January Percent Billions (US $) Index, May U.S. federal funds rate (LHS) 2003=100 7 3000 148 Federal reserve balance sheet (RHS) 6 2500 5 147 2000 4 1500 146 3 1000 2 145 1 500 0 0 144 Sep-04 Sep-11 May-02 Jul-03 Nov-05 May-09 Jul-10 Nov-12 Jul-13 Nov-13 Jul-14 Mar-01 May-14 Nov-14 Jan-00 Jan-07 Mar-08 Jan-14 Mar-15 Sep-13 Jan-14 Mar-14 Sep-14 Jan-15 Source: Haver Analytics, Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. Source: Haver Analytics. Produced by DECPG (Derek Chen, Gerard Kambou and Jiayi Zhang). Number 255 | March 20, 2015 Weekly Insight: Revenue Mobilization in South Asia Low tax-to-GDP ratios in the South Asia Region (SAR) reflect narrow tax bases, weak tax administration, and structural factors. A renewed effort for tax reforms is needed to support fiscal sustainability and finance critical poverty-reducing 1 expenditures. In several countries, efforts are underway to address these challenges.  Greater revenue mobilization is critical for the South Asia region. Fiscal buffers have diminished since the 2008/09 global financial crisis. Although fiscal consolidation efforts are underway, evident for example in the recent fuel subsidy reforms in India, replenishing buffers will require raising more revenue. Given low tax-to-GDP ratios (Figure 3) and debt levels over 60 percent of GDP in some countries (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), long-term fiscal sustainability hinges upon greater revenue mobilization. A larger tax revenue envelope is also necessary to help fund critical spending on infrastructure and social programs. South Asia is home to just under 40 percent of the world’s population living under the $1.25 per day (PPP) poverty line, and its infrastructure investment needs have been estimated at between US$1.7-2.5 trillion (at current prices) until 2020, part of which will have to be financed by government through higher tax revenues.  Tax collection has been held back for several interrelated reasons. First, the tax base is narrow, with payments tending to be concentrated among a few taxpayers in South Asia. In India only 3 percent of the population pays the personal income tax, with the figure dropping to 1 percent in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan (Figure 4). A plethora of exemptions exist, which have made tax systems more complex and may have contributed to the emergence of vested interests to resist further reforms. South Asia also ranks low on the common yardsticks of efficient tax administration. For instance, time spent preparing and paying taxes for a typical firm in South Asia is more than 300 hours, compared with 200 hours in East Asia and 175 hours in advanced countries. Structural factors, such as higher shares of agriculture and service sectors in GDP, and poor governance have also played a role.  A renewed effort for tax reforms is needed in the region. Reform priorities need to focus on broadening the tax base and simplifying tax structures through a review of extensive tax exemptions and widely employed tax holidays. Tax administrations need to be strengthened, for instance by insulating tax authorities from political influences, and providing adequate resources to enhance data collection and assessment capacity. Country-specific challenges include introducing and implementing goods and services or value-added taxes in Bangladesh and India, although there are signs of progress under the newly-elected government in India. In Nepal, the sequencing of tax reforms will matter, with small initial changes in specific tax laws likely to yield relatively large improvements in tax revenues. Pakistan is already implementing comprehensive reforms spanning tax administration, regulatory and governance reforms. In Bhutan and Maldives, revenues depend to a large extent on hydropower and tourism, repectively, and need to be diversified. FIGURE 3 Tax to GDP ratios FIGURE 4 Tax Payers Tax-to-GDP ratios are low in SAR relative to developing country peers Only a small share of the population pays income taxes in SAR countries Percent of GDP Percent of population paying income taxes 2002-04 7 2010-12 6 Median low income (2010-12) 20 Median middle income (2010-12) 5 4 16 3 12 2 1 8 0 India Sri Lanka Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal Bhutan 4 0 Sri Lanka Maldives Nepal India Afghanistan Pakistan Bhutan Bangladesh Source: World Bank calculations using data from the World Development Source: Asad, 2012; Bangladesh Budget Watch 2009; Inland Revenue Department, Indicators, Government Financial Statistics and IMF Country Reports. Nepal, 2013; Ministries of Finance, Government of India, 2011; Ministries of Finance, Royal Government of Bhutan, 2010; Sri Lanka, 2012. 1 Based on analysis conducted in Gupta, Poonam, 2015, Generating Larger Tax Revenue in South Asia, MRPA Working Paper NO. 61433 and World Bank, 2015, Global Economic Prospects January 2015. Produced by DECPG (Tehmina Khan, Gerard Kambou and Jiayi Zhang). Number 255 | March 20, 2015 Major Data Releases Fri, 13 Mar - Thu, 19 Mar 2015 Upcoming releases: Fri, 20 Mar - Thu, 26 Mar 2015 Country Date Indicator Period Actual Forecast Previous Country Date Indicator Period Previous Greece 3/10/2015 CPI (Y/Y) FEB -2.2% -1.9% -2.8% Malaysia 3/20/2015 CPI (Y/Y) FEB 1.0% China 3/11/2015 Industrial Production (Y/Y) JAN 6.8% 7.9% 7.9% Canada 3/20/2015 Retail Sales (Y/Y) JAN 4.0% Brazil 3/13/2015 Retail Sales (Y/Y) JAN 0.6% -1.0% 0.3% Singapore 3/23/2015 CPI (Y/Y) FEB -0.4% Mexico 3/13/2015 Industrial Production (Y/Y) JAN 0.8% 2.5% 1.9% US 3/24/2015 CPI (Y/Y) FEB -0.1% Eurozone 3/17/2015 Unemployment Rate Q4 0.9% 0.8% 0.7% South Korea 3/25/2015 GDP (Y/Y) Q4 3.2% Indonesia 3/17/2015 Interest Rate Decision FEB 7.5% 7.4% 7.5% South Africa 3/26/2015 PPI (Y/Y) FEB -1.1% Economic Developments indicators expressed as %ch y/y, except Industrial Production quarterly figures are %ch q/q, annualized 2014 2014 2015 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Industrial Production, S.A. World 8.8 4.7 3.1 2.5 3.8 2.1 2.3 4.0 3.8 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.4 2.5 3.4 3.1 2.8 3.3 2.7 - High Income Countries 7.7 2.9 1.1 0.6 3.2 -0.1 0.2 3.4 3.0 2.8 2.2 2.2 2.3 1.0 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.9 1.7 - Developing Countries 10.9 7.8 6.3 5.5 4.7 5.4 5.6 4.9 4.9 4.8 5.5 5.4 4.9 4.8 6.0 5.1 5.0 5.3 4.2 - East Asia and Pacific 14.2 11.3 9.0 8.9 4.6 8.0 6.8 8.6 7.5 7.9 8.2 8.6 7.8 6.6 7.7 7.1 6.6 7.3 6.4 6.33 East Asia x. China 8.9 0.7 4.1 4.7 -1.6 7.9 4.4 6.1 0.7 2.6 4.0 4.7 1.1 4.6 5.8 4.4 3.5 4.5 4.0 - Europe and Central Asia 10.9 13.0 8.9 2.2 5.8 1.9 1.5 -1.6 4.2 4.2 6.5 3.5 3.9 2.3 2.7 2.4 1.9 1.3 -0.4 - Latin America and Caribbean 5.9 2.5 -0.1 0.9 1.3 -2.8 -0.6 -3.2 1.4 -2.4 -1.2 -2.7 -1.7 -1.2 -1.6 -0.9 -1.6 -1.7 -2.4 - Middle East and N. Africa 2.1 -8.6 5.8 -6.9 16.2 2.7 29.9 -3.6 -8.9 -8.8 -7.1 -4.0 -1.9 10.2 17.8 10.9 12.8 8.0 - - South Asia 9.3 5.5 1.1 1.7 6.8 5.7 1.9 -3.3 0.1 4.2 5.3 4.5 1.9 2.5 3.9 -1.0 4.8 4.2 4.0 - Sub-Saharan Africa 4.6 3.5 3.3 0.9 -2.9 -0.9 -4.6 10.2 -0.7 -0.1 -2.5 0.0 -8.3 0.5 7.8 1.9 -0.9 0.0 -1.3 - Inflation, S.A. 1 High Income Countries 1.7 2.8 2.0 1.5 1.4 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.2 0.9 - Developing Countries 5.8 7.5 6.5 7.5 7.5 7.7 7.9 7.8 7.5 7.5 7.9 7.7 7.9 8.0 7.8 7.7 7.7 8.1 7.6 7.85 East Asia and Pacific 3.4 5.6 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.5 2.2 3.0 2.5 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.3 1.5 1.99 Europe and Central Asia 7.3 8.2 8.7 6.2 5.8 7.4 7.9 8.1 6.2 7.0 7.6 7.5 7.7 8.0 8.0 8.2 8.4 7.9 7.6 8.18 Latin America and Caribbean 6.4 7.5 6.7 9.8 12.5 13.9 15.5 16.9 12.9 13.6 13.9 14.2 14.9 15.5 16.0 16.3 16.6 17.7 17.2 17 Middle East and N. Africa 7.0 12.0 13.8 19.2 13.2 9.7 10.1 10.8 11.3 10.1 9.9 9.2 9.9 10.2 10.2 10.6 10.6 11.3 10.4 - South Asia 10.3 9.8 9.4 10.1 8.1 7.8 6.7 4.2 8.1 8.4 8.1 6.8 7.3 6.9 5.8 4.8 3.5 4.4 5.1 5.06 Sub-Saharan Africa 7.5 10.1 11.3 8.2 8.8 9.5 9.6 7.6 8.8 9.0 9.5 10.0 9.9 10.0 8.8 7.5 7.8 7.5 6.9 - 1 Inflation is calculated as the GDP-weighted average for all groups. Trade and Finance indicators expressed as %ch y/y, except International Reserves are %ch p/p and trade quarterly figures are %ch q/q, annualized 2014 2015 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Exports, Nominal, US$, S.A. World 21.9 19.2 0.2 2.0 -2.7 5.1 2.5 -14.5 2.9 3.0 4.2 3.7 6.2 1.2 2.9 -1.1 -4.1 -3.0 -9.3 - High Income Countries 19.4 18.6 -1.1 1.3 0.3 3.2 -1.7 -17.4 5.3 3.8 4.3 2.8 5.5 -0.1 1.3 -2.7 -5.5 -4.6 -10.8 - Developing Countries 28.4 20.7 3.2 3.6 -9.1 9.5 12.4 -7.9 -2.4 1.1 4.1 5.7 7.9 4.0 6.7 2.6 -0.9 0.6 -6.3 - East Asia and Pacific 30.8 19.7 6.1 6.2 -12.1 14.1 22.0 3.3 -4.1 2.1 5.2 7.6 11.3 8.2 12.8 8.5 3.5 6.3 -3.3 32.5 Europe and Central Asia 15.5 20.3 -0.1 -0.3 7.2 -4.8 -6.1 -25.7 8.9 3.2 6.6 5.4 6.1 -3.8 -1.0 -5.8 -8.5 -10.1 -11.2 - Latin America and Caribbean 28.4 23.3 1.7 0.5 -8.5 7.8 3.5 -26.4 -3.0 -0.8 0.9 1.7 5.5 -0.8 -0.4 -4.5 -9.1 -7.1 -8.9 - Middle East and N. Africa 24.3 15.1 2.1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - South Asia 34.3 31.6 -1.8 6.2 -10.8 4.3 11.3 -8.7 1.1 3.7 9.1 9.3 3.3 1.0 -1.3 -7.6 7.0 -3.1 -10.0 -14 Sub-Saharan Africa 32.7 19.1 -2.9 0.2 -7.2 2.6 -17.1 -35.4 -7.8 -10.3 -8.2 -4.1 -8.7 -7.2 -7.5 -10.8 -18.6 -17.1 - - Imports, Nominal, US$, S.A. World 25.6 23.5 6.9 6.0 -9.0 2.7 0.3 -12.8 -2.0 0.7 -4.1 0.5 3.6 -1.4 -2.3 -7.5 -5.0 -2.3 -20.3 - High Income Countries 17.9 17.8 -1.0 0.3 3.9 1.3 -2.6 -19.6 7.6 4.4 4.2 6.4 5.5 0.3 2.0 -3.5 -5.8 -4.9 -14.4 - Developing Countries 35.6 29.9 14.9 11.0 -18.5 4.0 2.8 -6.6 -9.2 -2.2 -10.5 -4.2 2.0 -2.7 -5.8 -10.6 -4.3 -0.2 -24.8 - East Asia and Pacific 37.3 24.2 5.6 5.8 2.5 -13.9 15.5 -9.2 -10.4 -2.1 -3.8 3.5 -2.7 -0.9 6.8 3.2 -5.3 -3.6 -17.8 -20.1 Europe and Central Asia 20.6 27.1 -0.2 2.9 -12.8 -6.0 -5.9 -8.0 -0.6 -6.0 -2.3 0.1 -7.2 -4.2 -4.5 -7.5 -8.1 -9.1 -16.6 - Latin America and Caribbean 29.0 22.5 3.8 3.0 3.0 -3.1 6.4 -7.2 2.7 -4.9 -2.4 2.4 -0.8 -1.9 7.6 -4.4 0.1 3.4 -8.4 - Middle East and N. Africa 15.0 18.0 9.8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - South Asia 33.9 31.4 4.0 -4.0 15.4 3.3 36.8 -14.3 2.2 -9.5 -10.1 8.7 4.2 7.0 22.9 6.9 21.7 -2.2 -11.7 -13.1 Sub-Saharan Africa 39.1 33.8 21.9 15.4 -27.6 11.9 -2.6 - -11.3 -1.2 -13.6 -7.7 4.3 -4.1 -12.0 -16.1 -5.5 - - - International Reserves, US$ High Income Countries 10.2 11.3 9.2 3.6 0.8 0.7 -1.8 -1.5 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.5 -0.4 0.0 -1.3 -0.6 0.0 -0.9 0.3 - Developing Countries 15.6 10.5 5.2 8.2 1.8 1.5 -1.9 -1.7 0.7 1.0 0.1 0.4 -0.2 -0.1 -1.7 -0.7 -0.3 -0.7 - - East Asia and Pacific 19.3 11.9 4.5 12.2 3.0 1.2 -2.5 -1.4 0.8 0.9 0.1 0.3 -0.5 0.1 -2.1 -0.8 -0.3 -0.3 - - Europe and Central Asia 9.3 5.5 7.8 3.6 -2.9 3.4 -1.7 -7.2 0.6 1.6 0.7 1.0 -1.1 1.1 -1.7 -2.0 -1.1 -4.3 -0.7 -1.31 Latin America and Caribbean 16.2 16.3 8.4 -1.1 0.2 3.4 1.2 -1.2 0.1 1.6 0.6 1.2 1.1 0.0 0.1 -0.1 0.7 -1.8 0.5 -0.32 Middle East and N. Africa 6.1 3.0 5.9 3.0 -1.9 -2.2 -3.8 -3.2 -0.8 -0.8 -0.9 -0.6 -0.4 -1.1 -2.3 -0.2 -1.0 -2.1 - - South Asia 6.1 -0.9 0.4 -0.2 3.8 5.6 -0.6 1.9 3.3 2.9 1.1 1.5 1.3 -0.4 -1.4 0.5 -0.3 1.8 2.2 3.39 Produced by DECPG (Tehmina Khan, Gerard Kambou and Jiayi Zhang). Number 255 | March 20, 2015 Financial Markets 1 2013 2014 2014 2015 MRV Chg since 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Sep-12 '08 3 Interest rates and LIBOR (%) U.S. Fed Funds Effective 0.18 0.10 0.14 0.11 0.09 0.07 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.12 -1.98 ECB repo 1.00 1.25 0.88 0.55 0.35 0.25 0.22 0.11 0.05 0.16 0.15 0.12 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 -4.20 US$ LIBOR 3-months 0.34 0.34 0.43 0.27 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.25 0.25 0.26 0.27 -2.55 EURIBOR 3-months 0.75 1.34 0.49 0.15 0.20 0.27 0.27 0.13 0.00 0.21 0.17 0.16 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 -4.89 US 10-yr Treasury yield 3.20 2.77 1.78 2.33 2.73 2.75 2.61 2.49 2.27 2.59 2.52 2.43 2.51 2.32 2.30 2.19 1.94 1.96 2.11 -1.60 German Bund, 10 yr 2.78 2.65 1.57 1.63 1.79 1.68 1.43 1.07 0.77 1.35 1.20 1.02 1.00 0.87 0.79 0.64 0.45 0.35 0.28 -3.90 Spreads (basis points) JP Morgan Emerging Markets 301 341 342 319 342 352 300 301 367 282 282 310 312 349 350 402 443 420 432 75 Asia 206 218 216 219 237 231 197 195 202 189 195 202 187 207 193 206 233 215 216 -80 Europe 247 301 320 267 290 301 265 262 319 236 244 274 270 295 293 368 417 396 407 94 Latin America & Caribbean 360 404 393 379 409 429 360 366 471 343 336 373 390 443 455 516 560 531 551 163 Middle East 342 366 449 435 428 408 376 369 398 360 372 379 358 395 388 411 452 452 448 -50 Africa 274 364 337 322 338 332 287 280 319 278 278 292 270 307 306 343 385 364 388 388 Stock Indices (end of period) 2 Global (MSCI) 331 300 340 409 409 411 429 417 417 429 423 432 417 419 426 417 410 432 423 32.1 High-Income ($ Index) 1280 1183 1339 1661 1661 1674 1743 1698 1710 1743 1714 1749 1698 1708 1740 1710 1678 1773 1737 35.3 United States (S&P-500) 1258 1258 1426 1848 1848 1872 1960 1981 2059 1960 1931 2003 1981 2018 2068 2059 1995 2105 2074 65.7 Euro Area (S&P-350$) 1124 1005 1143 1339 1339 1361 1401 1411 1401 1401 1380 1404 1411 1382 1425 1401 1502 1603 1624 40.5 Japan (Nikkei-225) 10229 8455 10395 16291 16291 14828 15454 16174 0 15454 15621 15425 16174 16756 17460 0 17674 18798 19437 59.1 Developing Markets (MSCI) 1151 916 1055 1003 1003 995 1051 1005 956 1051 1066 1088 1005 1016 1005 956 962 990 949 10.9 EM Asia 468 379 447 446 446 444 472 460 457 472 485 489 460 467 467 457 468 479 471 43.6 EM Europe 529 395 473 438 438 409 435 374 297 435 403 399 374 369 353 297 286 313 287 -43.6 EM Europe & Middle East 450 336 402 372 372 348 360 321 257 360 340 337 321 314 303 257 247 269 246 -39.8 EM Latin America & Caribbean 4614 3602 3798 3201 3201 3194 3370 3171 2728 3370 3399 3664 3171 3158 3008 2728 2555 2654 2376 -32.8 Exchange Rates (LCU / USD) High Income Euro Area 0.76 0.72 0.78 0.75 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.76 0.80 0.74 0.74 0.75 0.78 0.79 0.80 0.81 0.86 0.88 0.94 34.3 Japan 87.76 79.74 79.85 97.61 100.51 102.78 102.14 104.04 114.60 102.07 101.75 102.98 107.39 108.02 116.40 119.37 118.37 118.71 121.34 12.4 Developing Brazil 1.76 1.67 1.95 2.16 2.28 2.37 2.23 2.28 2.55 2.23 2.22 2.27 2.34 2.45 2.55 2.65 2.64 2.82 3.24 81.9 China 6.77 6.46 6.31 6.15 6.09 6.10 6.23 6.16 6.15 6.23 6.20 6.15 6.14 6.13 6.13 6.19 6.22 6.25 6.25 -8.7 Egypt 5.63 5.94 6.07 6.87 6.89 6.96 7.07 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.27 7.59 7.63 40.6 India 45.73 46.67 53.41 58.55 62.00 61.79 59.90 60.65 62.03 59.76 60.06 61.01 60.87 61.50 61.79 62.80 62.20 62.07 62.72 37.2 Russia 30.37 29.41 31.06 31.86 32.56 35.07 34.96 36.31 48.02 34.37 34.75 36.17 38.01 40.96 46.27 56.83 64.43 64.13 61.46 140.7 South Africa 7.32 7.26 8.21 9.65 10.16 10.86 10.54 10.77 11.23 10.68 10.66 10.66 10.99 11.06 11.10 11.52 11.57 11.58 12.36 54.6 Memo: USA nominal effective rate 100.19 98.53 102.00 104.77 106.31 108.34 108.69 110.58 114.06 109.32 109.44 110.62 111.68 112.67 113.83 115.69 117.78 119.40 122.40 27.8 1 MRV = Most Recent Value. 2 MSCI Indices for Asia, Africa, and Europe and C. Asia, for 2008 are calculated from February-December, due to data availability. 3 Change expressed in levels for interest rates and spreads; percent change for stock market and exchange rates. Commodity Prices 2013 2014 2014 MRV Chg since 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Sep-12 '08 3 1 Oil price, $/b, nominal 79 104 105 104 105 104 106 100 75 108 105 100 96 86 77 61 48 55 50 -49.1 Non - Oil Index 2 .. 97 85 79 75 76 78 73 70 76 75 74 71 70 71 69 66 65 64 .. Food Index 2 .. 99 97 89 85 86 89 75 74 86 79 76 72 72 75 75 73 72 68 .. 3 Metals and Minerals Index 103 117 99 94 92 88 87 89 83 87 90 90 87 84 84 80 75 74 75 -27.8 Baltic Dry Index 4 2755 1545 916 1215 1876 1375 983 948 1103 912 796 948 1101 1096 1332 881 727 539 568 -88.2 1 Simple average of Brent, Dubai and WTI. 2 Base Date = Jan 3, 2011 due to data availability. The Index component combination in the Weekly tables differs from that of the Pink Sheet. 3 Base Date = Jan 4, 2010 due to data availability. The Index component combination in the Weekly tables differs from that of the Pink Sheet. 4 Base Date = May 1, 1985 Produced by DECPG (Tehmina Khan, Gerard Kambou and Jiayi Zhang). Number 255 | March 20, 2015