Burma to borrow from World Bank after 25 years
Aug 03, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
The World Bank is about to resume lending to Burma for the first time since 1987. Together with its investment branch the International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank has opened its first offices in the former capital, Rangoon (now Yangon). The ADB has also set up shop in the capital […]
Zuckerberg no longer amongst tech top 10 as Facebook drops
Aug 03, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
As Facebook shares dropped around four percent to a record low on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune took a $423m hit. The 28-year-old is now worth only about $10.2bn, over $400m behind James Goodnight, co-founder of the SAS Institute, and tech’s tenth wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This Thursday Facebook shares were 47 […]
Rise in grain prices leads to fear for food
Aug 01, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
A sharp rise in grain prices is reverberating around the world as nations face food inflation. There has been a 30-50 percent gain in the benchmark price of corn, wheat and soyabeans, are echoing the 2007/8 food crisis. Countries likely to face the biggest repercussions are those dependant on agricultural imports. The Indonesian tofu industry […]
Taiwanese economy shrinks
Jul 31, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
Taiwan’s economy has contracted in the second quarter by 0.16 percent, according to official data. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected it to grow by as much as 0.5 percent. “With deteriorating of European debt crisis and slowdown in major economies, the global demand is expected to decelerate and the outlook of world trade in […]
German banks’ lending to periphery lowest in 7 years
Jul 30, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
Lending by German banks to weaker parts of the eurozone has dropped to nearly 20 percent since the beginning of the year and is currently at its lowest level since 2005, according to central bank data. A total of €55bn less in net loans were granted to Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain by German […]
Record high for Spanish unemployment
Jul 27, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
Spain’s unemployment rate has risen once again to 24.6 percent in the three months to June, despite a small decline at the beginning of the summer attributed to temporary positions linked to the holiday trade, according to the National Statistic Institute. Half of those under the age of 26 and available for work are unemployed, […]
Weak ore prices hit Vale profit
Jul 26, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
Brazilian iron ore giant Vale has reported a quarterly drop in net income of 59 percent as slow growth in China has affected iron ore prices. Further foreign exchange losses were triggered by a weak Brazilian real. The world’s largest iron ore miner has recorded a second quarter net income of $2.66bn, equivalent to 52 […]
Apple’s weak quarter dampened by iPhone 5 rumours
Jul 25, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
Apple, currently the most valuable public company in the world, has missed growth forecasts in the third quarter of the fiscal year as the public held out for the release of their new iPhone. After selling 26 million iPhones in the three months to June 30, Apple recorded a 28 percent increase on the same […]
WTO investigates Chinese limit on rare earth exports
Jul 24, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
The World Trade Organisation has announced it will be investigating China’s quotas and tariffs on exported tungsten and molybdenum following complaints by the US, the EU and Japan that it might be breaking global trade rules. Over 90 percent of the world’s rare earths are produced in China; they are 17 key metallic elements used […]
New rules help South Korea’s housing market
Jul 23, 2012Jeremy Parkinson0
Policy makers have stepped up plans to stimulate the real estate market and entice more buyers after the country registered tentative demands and want to prevent further wavering domestic growth. The debt-to income ratio, which monitors the type of mortgage loan imposed by banks, is due to be incremented to meet the needs of borrowers, […]