Credit ratings agency Moody’s on Tuesday raised the U.S. banking sector outlook from negative to stable, a move that reflects continued improvement in the operating environment and reduced downside risks to banks from a faltering economy.
Moody’s is becoming more optimistic about U.S. lenders a year after it downgraded 15 banks in a review of the global financial system.
After a sharp downturn in 1999-2001, Turkey’s economy managed to grow by 5 percent per year on average from 2002 to 2012 – despite global and regional crises. There is however nothing flashy about the country’s rise; its success was simply based on getting the fundamentals right, like rebuilding the banking sector, getting the budget under control, and investing heavily where it counts: infrastructure, education, health, and technology.
China will spend close to $5 billion to build an entire city from scratch in the forests near Minsk, the capital of Belarus, reported Bloomberg on Sunday, with the area set to be transformed into a gigantic industrial hub, offering Chinese exporters tax-free entry into Russia and Kazakhstan.
Even as America looks towards an energy-independent future, debate continues to stir over the importance of green energy and natural gas exports. And although some have argued that government intervention is hindering industry growth, the threat of significant market failures can also hurt long-term economic and environmental sustainability.
After nearly four years of economic turmoil, the global economy in 2013, comparatively at least, appears to be now reaching a period of relative calm.
The UN Security Council meets later this week to discuss a possible Cyprus reunification following talks with leaders of Greek and Turkish sides of the divided Mediterranean island. Officials say Greek and Turkish sides now have strong economic reasons to agree a reunification that could help ease debt problems and speed exploitation of disputed gas fields.
Monday, May 27
Brazil has offered to cancel or restructure nearly $900 million in debt owed to it by African countries, according to a Reuters report, in its latest effort to boost economic ties with the resource-rich continent, which accounted for about $26.5 billion in trade last year.
Almost 15 million people, or a quarter of the population, in Italy were living in some form of economic hardship at the end of 2012, as the eurozone’s third largest economy endures one of its longest recessions amid soaring unemployment and drastic spending cuts.
The recession that has lasted almost two years has taken a toll on ordinary Italians who are increasingly digging into their savings to make ends meet, said Italy’s national statistic agency ISTAT in its annual State of the Nation report.
While the spread of H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China, public healthcare experts say the bird flu outbreak has cost the country’s poultry industry more than 40 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in losses despite Beijing’s swift actions to contain the outbreak.
The new strain of bird flu is reported to have infected 130 people in mainland China since emerging in March, including 35 who died, but no cases have been detected since early May, said Chinese health minister Li Bin at a World Health Organisation meeting in Geneva yesterday.
The Italian government is reportedly considering a “generational handoff” scheme that will see older workers reduce their work hours in order to mentor younger employees at the same job, said the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, in the latest idea to bring down youth unemployment in the country, which has hit 38.4 percent despite possessing the most educated generation in its history.
