ECB halts purchases of eurozone bonds
BY BBC News | PHOTO AFP
PUBLISHED 10:15, February 21, 2012
The European Central Bank (ECB) has said it made no purchases of eurozone government bonds last week.The emergency bond-buying programme was not used for the first time since August.The central bank has been buying the bonds of cash-strapped countries like Italy and Spain in a bid to keep their cost of borrowing down. Many feared that a surge in interest rates at bond auctions would mean further expensive bailouts. So far, Greece, the Irish Republic and Portugal have been bailed... [Full article]
EU faces multiple trade wars defending green policies
BY EUobserver
PUBLISHED 10:37, February 21, 2012
EU measures to cut CO2 emissions and improve the climate have sparked outrage in the global aviation industry and most recently in Canada, home to the world’s second largest fossil fuel reserves. The Guardian newspaper has revealed that the EU intends to label fuel from tar sands, which would include oil from the Canadian Alberta province, as “highly polluting” in a vote in an expert committee dealing with energy issues... [Full article]
Euro jumps, stocks pare losses on Greek deal
BY Reuters
PUBLISHED 10:35, February 21, 2012
he euro jumped and Asian stocks pared losses Tuesday after euro zone policy makers agreed to a second bailout package for Greece in marathon talks that went deep into the Brussels night. The single currency jumped around half a cent after euro zone finance ministers approved a 130-billion-euro rescue, with strict conditions, that averts an imminent default by Athens. Reaction from share and commodity markets, which had rallied in recent... [Full article]
Icelandic anger brings debt forgiveness in best recovery story
BY Bloomberg
PUBLISHED 10:38, February 21, 2012
Icelanders who pelted parliament with rocks in 2009 demanding their leaders and bankers answer for the country’s economic and financial collapse are reaping the benefits of their anger. Since the end of 2008, the island’s banks have forgiven loans equivalent to 13 percent of gross domestic product, easing the debt burdens of more than a quarter of the population, according to a report published this month by the Icelandic Financial Services Association. “You could safely say that Iceland holds the world record in household debt relief,” said Lars Christensen, chief emerging markets economist at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “Iceland followed the textbook example of what is required in a crisis. Any economist would agree with that.” The island’s steps... [Full article]
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Apple faces its ‘Nike moment’ over working conditions in Chinese factories
BY The Guardian
PUBLISHED 10:39, February 21, 2012
Apple is facing a “Nike moment” which hit the shoe company in the 1990s when its use of cheap labour in the far east was revealed, one of the inspectors of Apple’s Chinese suppliers has said. Speaking to ABC News’ Nightline programme, Ines Kaempfer of the US Fair Labour Association... [Full article]
IMF under pressure over Greece
BY Irish Times
PUBLISHED 10:40, February 21, 2012
The negotiation continued as the European authorities grappled with a new debt sustainability assessment by the EU-IMF “troika” which suggests Greek national debt will remain well above target even after a €130 billion loan package and a €100 billion debt write-down. “We will deal today with bringing the decision of... [Full article]
Oil trades near nine-month high on Iran tension
BY Bloomberg
PUBLISHED 10:43, February 21, 2012
Oil traded near the highest price in nine months after euro-area finance ministers agreed on a second bailout for Greece, improving prospects for fuel demand. Futures in New York advanced as much as 2.1 percent from Feb. 17. There was neither floor trading nor a closing price yesterday in the... [Full article]
EU trade chief pressures China over procurements
BY EUbusiness | PUBLISHED 10:01, February 17, 2012
China is protecting a domestic market for public procurements worth $1.1 trillion, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht... [Full article]
Chinese goldbugs to overtake India as world’s biggest gold consumers
BY The Telegraph | PUBLISHED 10:00, February 17, 2012
The industry body said 770 tonnes of gold were bought in China last year, 20pc more than in... [Full article]
Commission sets sights on shadow banking industry
BY European Voice | PUBLISHED 09:58, February 17, 2012
The European Commission is considering measures to combat the threat it sees in the growing ‘shadow banking’ industry,... [Full article]
A way out of the woods
BY The Economist | PUBLISHED 09:56, February 17, 2012
LAST year every new jolt in the euro crisis sent financial markets into a spin. This year they... [Full article]
Germany Seeks to Avoid Two-Step Vote on Greek Aid
BY Bloomberg | PUBLISHED 09:54, February 17, 2012
Germany wants euro-area finance chiefs to avoid splitting consideration of a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) Greek rescue and... [Full article]
Shares boosted by US data and Greece hopes
BY Financial Times | PUBLISHED 09:50, February 17, 2012
A gauge of global stocks sits near six month highs as optimism builds about the health of the... [Full article]
ECB ready to forego Greece bond profit
BY Reuters | PUBLISHED 09:47, February 17, 2012
(Reuters) – European Central Bank policymakers said they have no wish to book a profit on Greek sovereign... [Full article]
Parents ‘struggling to feed children as prices rise’
BY BBC News | PUBLISHED 07:18, February 15, 2012
A year of record food prices has forced millions of parents in the developing world to cut back... [Full article]
Italian borrowing costs fall despite downgrade
BY Irish Times | PUBLISHED 07:17, February 15, 2012
Italian borrowing costs fell yesterday even after a downgrade by Moody’s, as strong demand in a €6 billion... [Full article]
Boeing signs biggest deal ever
BY Deutsche Welle | PUBLISHED 07:12, February 15, 2012
Boeing and Indonesian carrier Lion Air have signed a multi-billion dollar contract which is billed as the largest... [Full article]