That helps explain the jump in the value of beer brands like Brazil's Brahma, which is worth 61% more than last year.
Economists cautioned that a 41 percent jump in the value of imports reflected higher prices for commodities last year, and not greater domestic consumption.
But for trade-dependent Japan and Switzerland, a sudden jump in the value of their currencies can wreak havoc by making their exports uncompetitive.
Despite an 80percentt jump in the value of the Russian market last year, stocks are still relatively cheap, said Peter Boone, head of research at Brunswick UBS Warburg, an investment bank in Moscow and a subsidiary of UBS Warburg.
During the first half of this year, a 44percentt jump in the value of Canada's oil and gas exports to the United States helped push Canada's June trade surplus with its neighbor to a monthly record of $5.2 billion.
Then, when inflation fell in the 1990s, they benefited again from a step jump in the value of their biggest asset as low interest rates stimulated a prolonged housing boom.
A jump in the value of the yen to 15-year highs has hampered the country's exporters, who are responsible for much of Japan's economic growth, by making their products less competitive.
A jump in the value of the yen to 15-year highs has hampered exports, which are responsible for much of Japan's growth, by making them more expensive.
"A 20 percent or more jump in the value of the renminbi would create widespread bankruptcies in the export industry, and the objective of increasing consumption would be undermined by increasing unemployment," Mr. Soros said, expressing sympathy with the position of China's premier, Wen Jiabao, who warned this week that rapid appreciation of the currency would cause major social disruptions.
Mr Abe can hardly welcome the 20% fall in the stock market in the past few weeks, and sharp jump in the value of the yen.
