World trade volume fell by 0.6% in April from the previous month based on preliminary data, following a drop of 0.4% in March (marginally revised up from a drop of 0.5%), according to the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. April was the third month with an absolute change of less than 1%, after three months with drops of on average 6% per month. The drop in those months is without precedent in the data series that reaches back until 1991. The CPB says the volume of total global goods trade will fall 16% in 2009 and rise by 2.3% in 2010.

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The Paris-based OECD think-tank for governments of mainly developed countries, said on Thursday that the world’s main economies are looking to “green growth” as the way forward out of the current crisis, opening up new prospects for climate-change negotiations ahead of the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen in December.

Nearly 7,000 British Airways staff have taken what the airline termed “an early opportunity,” to apply for voluntary pay cuts in support of the airline’s cost reduction programme. Of the 40,000-strong workforce, 6,940 employees had volunteered for unpaid leave, part-time working or unpaid work by June 24th. About 800 will work for no pay in July. BA said the actions of the staff will save the company up to £10 million.

The National Competitiveness Council (NCC), which was established in 1997 as a social partnership body,reporting to the Taoiseach on key competitiveness issues facing the Irish economy, produces two reports annually, which are invariably ignored and each report is followed by a comment from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, cherrypicking the positive points for mention while ignoring the inconvenient truths. The latest report published on Thursday titled Getting Fit Again: The Short Term Priorities to Restore Competitiveness, says that without “immediate and continuing action” to restore Ireland’s international competitiveness, the economy runs the risk of entering “a prolonged period of depressed economic activity.” The report calls for a  a property tax, which unlike additional income tax, “does not affect people’s incentive to work.”  In a response to the report, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Mary Coughlan claimed credit for rising chemical exports from US-owned firms, providing further evidence that spin continues to trump credible policy making.

In a Conference Call on the IMF’s report on Ireland, Mission Chief to Ireland and Assistant Director in the European Department Ashoka Mody said that the Irish Miracle “as we know it seemed to have run its course by the early part of this decade and new sources of growth had not really emerged in any significant or vibrant manner. Therefore, when this recovery occurs, it will be important that if Ireland is to go back to something that resembles its more vibrant years that there will have to be a regeneration of new sources of growth.” Mody also said that there is absolutely no reason to think that the Irish authorities are going to default on their debt. “There is no basis in the slightest for even considering such a possibility. And there is no discussion at this time on a Fund relationship within which the IMF…provides any financial support,” he added.

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Eurostat the EU statistics office today reported that Ireland was still the second richest country in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita terms after Luxembourg in the European Union last year, despite being in recession in 2008. However, as with wealth surveys in boom years, the data should be viewed with caution.

The Eurozone new industrial orders index fell by 1.0% in April according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, today. In March the index decreased by 0.2%. In the EU27 new orders declined by 0.5% in April 2009, after dropping by 0.5% in March. In the year to April, new orders decreased by 35.5% in the Eurozone and by 35.0% in the EU27.

Irish seasonally-adjusted merchandise exports increased by 6% in April, relative to March 2009 and imports fell by 6%. Relative to February 2009, exports decreased by 5% and imports held steady in March 2009 - - boosted by US-owned chemical sector accounting for 60% of goods exports.