Irish services contraction fastest in six months
Ireland’s services sector shrank by its fastest rate in six months in January, when a marked fall in new orders indicated that unusually bad weather was not solely to blame, a survey showed this week. The NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 44.4 from 48.3 in December, when it had reached a level last equalled […]
West eyes Iran central bank
Western powers have called for a fourth round of UN measures against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment activities as demanded by five Security Council resolutions. Iran insists it has a sovereign right to produce nuclear fuel for what it says is a peaceful civilian atomic energy programme. The west fears Tehran’s programme is […]
Australia central bank skips a hike
Australia’s central bank shocked markets by skipping an interest rate rise this week, citing the impact of higher mortgage rates at home while noting tighter policy in China and concerns over sovereign debt abroad. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to keep its key cash rate at 3.75 percent confounded expectations of a rise […]
Toyota braces for sales hit from recall, costs mount
US auto sales for January are expected to show a sharp drop for Toyota after it pulled eight of its most popular models from showrooms last week following complaints over sticking accelerator pedals. In the first public comment from an executive at Toyota’s head office, the company’s executive in charge of quality said he was […]
Kenya’s MPC sees no risk with domestic inflation
Kenya’s inflation rate is likely to remain low in the near future as the performance of east Africa’s biggest economy improves, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said on Friday. In a statement expounding upon the MPC’s decision to keep its key central bank rate (CBR) at seven percent on Tuesday, Central Bank of […]
Too big to fail
White House adviser Paul Volcker will urge Congress to curb the risks taken by large banks to help prevent them from being treated as “too big to fail,” according to a testimony. Detailing a recent proposal known as “the Volcker rule,” the former Federal Reserve Chairman will tell lawmakers that commercial banks’ proprietary and speculative […]
US lawmakers turn up heat on Geithner over AIG
Lawmakers challenged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s credibility recently after he said he was not involved in a decision by bailed-out insurer AIG to withhold details about $62bn paid to banks. Geithner held his ground at a hearing, however, insisting the government-funded rescue which cost more than $180bn had been necessary to avert economic collapse. Big […]
Tullow launches $1.6bn share sale
London-based oil explorer Tullow Oil launched a placing of 80.4 million shares on Wednesday, equivalent to 10 percent of its outstanding shares, to pay for development of assets in Uganda. Based on Tuesday’s closing price of 1,216 pence, the sale would raise almost £1bn. Tullow said the money will be needed to meet higher capital […]
BOJ set to keep easing bias as gov renews pressure
The Bank of Japan may sound less pessimistic about the economy on Tuesday but it will likely keep its bias skewed towards further monetary easing, with the finance minister pressuring it again to do its utmost to fight deflation. But it remains ready to ease monetary conditions in the future, such as by buying more […]
Gates says US recovery to take years, taxes rise
Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, has said the US economy could take years to recover from recession and predicted taxes will have to rise to bring the federal budget into balance. Speaking on ABC’s Good Morning America, Gates also warned against too much government intervention and urged President Obama to focus policy on long-term […]
