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THE WEEK IN FIGURES
We’re pulling together numbers from the week’s top economic stories to keep you up to date.
Friday is still here and another week is under our belt.
In this week’s “Numbersâ€, we dive into the economic toll of anti-LGBTQ laws and discrimination. Did you know that countries lose billions of dollars a year because of homophobia?
We are also taking the pulse of the United Nations development agenda. As progress on the UN’s sustainable development goals has been curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, the man charged with advancing those goals said there were “reasons not to be hopeless.”
From Turkey, we’re taking an in-depth look at a wealth amnesty law that its supporters say is good for the economy, but critics denounce it as a money laundering boon.
And as for the Middle East, the Moody’s rating agency released a report on how the Gulf economies are progressing in their efforts to diversify their economies away from fossil fuels.
Finally, for all of you who like to spend your weekends browsing real estate websites, we have a track record of home prices in the world’s largest economy – the United States – and what’s without any. doubt a sellers market.
$ 1,506
It is the increase in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita associated with a one point increase for a country on the Global Acceptance Index, a barometer of the level of acceptance of LGBT people.
Some economists estimate that countries lose billions of dollars a year due to homophobia and exclusionary laws that prevent members of the LGBTQ community from fully participating in an economy. Al Jazeera’s Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath has that story here.
2030
This is the year the United Nations and its member states made a commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. But the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a severe blow to that timeline.
Al Jazeera lead producer Radmilla Suleymanova spoke with Achim Steiner, who heads the United Nations Development Program and is the person responsible for getting the SDGs back on track. Read our exclusive interview with him here.
16.5 percent
This is the latest reading on Turkey’s annual inflation rate. The Turkish lira is one of the worst performing currencies in emerging markets this year. To help prop up the pound and the economy, the Turkish government last year passed a “wealth amnesty” law that allows individuals and businesses to repatriate cash and other undisclosed assets held in the country. foreigner, or to declare assets held in Turkey, without incurring a tax penalty. .
The Turkish Lira is one of the worst performing currencies in emerging markets this year [File: Dilara Senkaya/Reuters]
The amnesty, which expires at the end of this month, is controversial. Supporters tout it as a much needed boost to the country’s economy, while critics say it offers a practical money laundering loophole. Al Jazeera’s K Murat Yildiz has that story here.
$ 374,400
That’s the median price of a new home sold in the United States last month – and the highest on record. The median price of a used home also hit an all-time high in May.
As prices continue to skyrocket, sales decline as the number of aspiring homeowners exceeds the number of single family homes for sale, making it a sellers’ market. The burning housing market is also symptomatic of a bigger economic problem, namely growing inequalities. We have that story for you here.
15 percent
It is the share of hydrocarbons in the GDP of Bahrain, the only country of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) where hydrocarbons represent less than 15% of the GDP, according to the rating agency Moody’s. As the Gulf economies strive to end their over-reliance on fossil fuels, efforts at economic diversification have yielded “limited” results. Further progress could be held back by falling oil prices and too many plans targeting the same non-oil sectors. We have this story here.
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