Led by the US Federal Reserve, the world's biggest central banks have injected an estimated US$34 trillion or so into the global economy by way of monetary stimulus over the past eight years, which is equal to around 5 per cent of global GDP annually.
Where has all this money gone to?
It is more accurate to talk of the huge "quantitative easing" (QE) exercise by the Fed and others as an increase in the lending power of commercial banks than a cash injection into the economy. So-called "helicopter money", or direct cash handouts by governments, have been avoided.
Not all of the liquidity has actually gone into circulation. Banks in Japan, for example, have mainly hoarded their QE funds at the Bank of Japan. But very large (if not easily quantifiable) sums of money have been lent out, forcing up sharply the price of stocks, shares and real estate.
The tsunami of lending has also resulted in a record build up of global debt, not least in the US corporate sector where, says the Institute of International Finance (IIF), it has soared back to levels seen at the time of the global financial crisis, despite pledges then to "deleverage" borrowing.
Anticipating trouble ahead as monetary condtions begin to tighten, US borrowers - financial institutions such as banks and others - have begun to deleverage somewhat, while there has also been a "steady decline in private sector debt in the euro zone," according to the IIF.
Others warn that building up huge national debt piles is a risky strategy with the Brookings Institution saying in a report last year that "when considering these risks, the traditional answer seems the most apt: the less indebted the fiscal authority, the more room for manoeuvre".
"Having the ability to engage in countercyclical fiscal and monetary policy requires both a low level of sovereign debt and central bank credibility," it adds.
It is emerging market economies that are the big borrowers now and there is "little sign of a slowdown in [these] markets,where debt has risen by $3tn over the past year to over $56tn", says the IIF. It continued into this year with a worrying proportion of it in dollars or other foreign currencies.
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Read more:
ECB chief unruffled by strong euro
How to invest while waiting for the bubble to burst
Market analysis: Quantitative easing close to wearing out its welcome
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Concern centres on China, where, it says, "over the past four quarters, the rise in the US dollar value of total debt has been sharpest,rising by some $2tn to over $32.7tn". But aspects of the debt build-up are posing worries in other parts of Asia as well.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is one of two countries to figure among the top 25 major borrowers listed by the IIF. In the kingdom, the corporate sector debt has reached just under 50 per cent of GDP, although in other sectors such as household and government borrowing the country ranks quite low down compared with others.
Overall, "emerging market debt reached 218 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of 2017, five percentage points higher than a year ago", the institute has noted. There is "little sign of a slowdown in emerging markets, where debt has risen by $3tn over the past year to over $56tn".
At the same time, "emerging market foreign exchange-denominated bond issuance is running at its fastest pace since 2014", with more than 70 per cent of this being in dollar form. Ominously, the IIF said, "rollover [or debt renewal] risk is high" with more than $1.9tn of emerging market bonds and syndicated loans due for redemption between now and the end of 2018.
"In some cases, this sharp debt build-up has already started to become a drag on sovereign credit profiles, including in countries such as China and Canada," the report noted.
"Despite some slowdown in overall debt accumulation (particularly in the non-financial corporate sector as the government tightens monetary policy), Chinese households have accelerated their borrowing. The household debt-to-GDP ratio in China hit an all-time high of over 45 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, well above the emerging market average of around 35 per cent. Our estimates based on monthly data on total social financing suggest that China's total debt surpassed 304 per cent of GDP as at May 2017," the IIF said.
Meanwhile, total debt in emerging markets excluding China has increased by almost $1tn to over $23.6tn in the first quarter, driven mainly by Brazil and India. And, "the pace of emerging-market credit downgrades is accelerating once again", according to the institute.
The high level of foreign-currency borrowing among some Asian emerging economies has echoes of the situation at the time of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, analysts say. So-called "currency mismatches" between foreign debt liabilities and local currency revenue was a key factor then.
With dollar interest rates on the rise and credit conditions tightening generally, there are fears that some emerging market borrowers - in the corporate sector especially - could be faced with debt-servicing or rollover difficulties.
It is possible to identify new sources of risk to financial stability, especially in situations in which corporates acting as financial speculators and/or domestic banks fail to fully understand the underlying domestic and international exposures of the corporate sector, points out the Brookings Institution.
"Accordingly, it is timely for governments and financial regulators to review risk surveillance and macroprudential policies in order to ensure that these risks are suitably contained."
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Sweet%20Tooth
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The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
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Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
South Africa squad
Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.