{OCDE REVUE DE PRESSE/OECD PRESS REVIEW} •••• June 17

{OCDE REVUE DE PRESSE/OECD PRESS REVIEW}
••••
June 17 Juin 1991
••••
LE TEMPS - Région parisienne: Matinée
nuageuse, très sombre cet après-midi.
Il fera 16 .
••••
SG/PRB/D(91)110
AFP: LE MONDE EN BREF
NEW DELHI - Le parti du Congrès (I) a remporté 75 sièges sur 118, contre
32 à son principal rival, le parti de droite Bharatiya Janata (BJP), selon
les derniers résultats partiels des élections législatives indiennes. Le
Janata Dal, ainsi que le Parti communiste, ont chacun obtenu un siège.
LUDHJANA (Inde) - 77 personnes ont été tuées et 73 autres blessées dans
l’attaque de 2 trains de voyageurs samedi soir par des militants
séparatistes sikhs dans le Penjab (nord-ouest de l’Inde), a-t-on indiqué
dimanche de source officielle.
ROME - Les arrivées devant les côtes italiennes de radeaux transportant
des réfugiés albanais se sont poursuivies dimanche, alors que continuaient
les opérations de rapatriement des 680 Albanais arrivés ces derniers
jours.
MANILLE - Des dizaines de milliers de Philippins se sont précipités
dimanche sur les routes pour évacuer les environs du volcan Pinatubo,
alors que la terre continuait de trembler dans le nord du pays. Les
autorités ont étendu la zone interdite de 30 à 40 km autour du volcan. Les
volcanologues redoutent les conséquences d’une fissure repérée sur les
flancs du cratère du Pinatubo.
LONDRES - Avec 7 semaines de retard, protestants et catholiques
d’Irlande du Nord vont s’asseoir enfin à la même table de négociations
lundi à Belfast, dans un face-à-face sans précédent depuis 17 ans, pour
tenter de gérer ensemble les affaires de la province britannique.
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OECD IN THE NEWS: The TEP report
FINANCIAL TIMES: The new techno-economic paradigm
LONDON - "Governments are having to come to terms with what Mrs Sylvia
Ostry, a former chief economist at the OECD, has described as a ’new
techno-economic paradigm’. This means that the new technologies are
affecting all sectors of industry, and the organisation and structure of
firms, as did the spread of steam power in the 19th century... The
economic and policy implications of these trends have been spelled out in
a bulky report on technological change that was sent by the OECD last
month to its member governments. Among its findings, the report showed
how: - It is no longer appropriate to judge, as many governments still do,
a company’s or a country’s competitiveness merely in terms of relative
costs such as unit labour costs or exchange rates... - Foreign direct
investment flows have been encouraged by technological change and overtaken foreign trade as an engine of world growth... - Factors such as
these and increased research and developments costs have encouraged the
growth of multi-national enterprises and new cross-border alliances
between companies. These are just a few points from the report. But they
have significant policy implications... The main conclusions must be that
the world has to brace itself for new types of friction between nations or
trading blocks as they adjust to the new conditions."
THE OECD STUDY ON FRANCE
FINANCIAL TIMES: Prudent policies to bear fruit
LONDON - "... At the end of his tenure of office, Mr Rocard could claim
that the franc was now regarded internationally as one of the world’s hard
currencies. The inflation rate and the budget deficit were both being
brought down steadily near after year, and in the key comparison with
Germany, the interest-rate gap was also narrowing year after year. As a
result, France could claim a high approval rating from the OECD, which in
the field of economics is virtually as good as a seal of good housekeep-
ing... With an economic environment that is more difficult in 1991 than in
1990, the report issued by the OECD this year is somewhat more guarded
than its predecessor. More work needs to be done, it says, on structural
reform to make the economy more competitive and the labour market more
flexible, as well as on restraining public spending, notably on social
security and health. Nevertheless, the final score-card is still
thoroughly favourable. Even though average GDP growth may be no more than
about 1.5% this year, the recovery curve should bring the rate of output
growth up to 2.75% by the second half of 1991, and inflation should fall
to less than 3%. In short, says the OECD, France’s ’prudent policies have
continued to bear fruit’."
LE NOUVEL ECONOMISTE: Salaires directs ou indirects?
PARIS - "Originalité de son économie une nouvelle fois prise à partie
par l’OCDE, la France est un des pays champions du salaire indirect. les
cotisations sociales salariales et patronales y représentent 53% des
salaires distribués par le privé et le public en 1990. En 10 ans, les
rémunérations des Français ont été multipliées par 2 et le prélèvement
social par 2,5. L’écart entre le revenu brut réel du travail avant impôt
et le revenu réel, net des cotisations sociales, s’est accru de 140% en 20
ans en France, contre 80% en Allemagne, 60% aux Pays-Bas et moins de 20%
au Royaume-Uni. Evolution qui, combinée à la surindexation du Smic, pèse
proportionnellement le plus sur les salariés peu qualifiés et jeunes, les
plus menacés par le chômage."
LE QUOTIDIEN: Le Smic à tout faire
PARIS - "Pierre Bérévogoy a confirmé à la fin de la semaine dernière
qu’une augmentation du Smic aura bien lieu le 1er juillet prochain, et que
celle-ci sera supérieure ’à la hausse des prix constatée au cours des
derniers mois’... Invoquant le ’ralentissement’ de l’économie et la notion
’d’opportunité politique’, il a précisé qu’il ’faut apprécier les
conséquences d’une augmentation du Smic en fonction de la situation de
l’emploi’. Le dernier rapport de l’OCDE avait souligné que le niveau trop
élevé du Smic et le rétrécissement de l’écart qui le sépare du salaire
moyen expliquaient en grande partie la persistance d’un chômage élevé en
France. Ce qui, bien évidemment, avait suscité de vigoureuses protestations dans les syndicats et le PC... Le Smic aurait-il été détourné de son
objet au fil des ans, pour, en définitive, accentuer les inégalités dans
le monde du travail? Les PME, qui sont concernées par le sujet, bien plus
que les grandes entreprises, n’ont pas manqué l’occasion, tendue par
l’OCDE, de faire ’rebondir’ le dossier dans le bureau du Premier ministre.
Le dossier est explosif."
OECD ECONOMIES
Germany
FINANCIAL TIMES: Tax increase adopted
BONN - "Germany’s government and opposition reached a deal at the
weekend clearing the way for hefty tax rises from July 1 to help pay for
unification. Both sides claimed victory after 14 hours of talks between
the government and opposition Social Democratic (SPD) politicians produced
a compromise. Unity taxes - including a 7.5% income tax surcharge and
insurance and fuel tax rises - will go ahead but plans to scrap company
taxes will largely be shelved... Mr Waigel said the deal meant Bonn would
not need to borrow more money this year. He remains under pressure to
slash Germany’s massive subsidy payments, trim spending and narrow the
federal deficit to DM50bn... Up to half east Germany’s 8m workers are
expected to be dismissed before the economy starts an upturn, expected by
officials to occur early next year. The east German unemployment rate is 9.5%."
United Kingdom
FINANCIAL TIMES: Inflation below 6%
LONDON - "Britain’s inflation rate fell below 6% for the first time in
nearly 3 years last month, prompting Mr Norman Lamont, the chancellor, to
predict economic recovery. Rather than cut interest rates, the Bank of
England signalled to financial markets that it wants the current 11.5%
base rate unchanged for at least next week. The Central Statistical office
reported that the retail prices index increased by 0.3% in May, resulting
in an annual inflation rate of 5.8% last month. Lower mortgage interest
rates and a fall in seasonal food prices helped push down the year-on-year
increase below April’s 6.4%... Mr Lamont said that it was ’quite clear’
that inflation was abating and that the government was on track to achieve
its target of 4% retail prices inflation by the fourth quarter of this
year. He predicted that lower inflation would cause business confidence to
pick up and create the conditions for durable growth. ’Of course this will
not happen overnight’, he said. ’But we are on the road to recovery’."
United States
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Industrial upturn confirmed
WASHINGTON - "The increase in US industrial production in May, the
second consecutive monthly gain, sent another encouraging sign of economic
recovery and lessened fears of a relapse. Moreover, inflation in the US at
the consumer level appeared to be under control in May. And new figures on
inventories showed a continued decline in April, which should help ensure
that production picks up as demand rises. Industrial production jumped
0.5% in May, the biggest increase since June 1990, after a revised 0.3%
gain in April, the Federal Reserve Board said."
i
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