India’s growing anxiety over China’s presence in South Asia and South East Asia is a reflection of its “inferiority complex” and “loud jealously”, wrote a commentary on Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua on Thursday.
Credit rating agency, Fitch, yesterday downgraded Portugal to junk status because of its “large fiscal imbalances, high indebtedness across all sectors and adverse macroeconomic outlook,” adding that it could be cut again.
Portugal yesterday suffered a double blow after the downgrade, just as a nationwide strike closed all public services due to growing frustrations over austerity measures that are pushing the country further into recession.
The average pay of a woman in the United Kingdom will overtake that of a male worker within the decade if current trends in the labour market continue, showed the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.
British women in their 20s already earn 3.6 percent more than men of the same age on average, while the overall gender pay gap within the country has shrunk by less than 10 percent for the first time.
China’s central bank announced today that it will reduce the reserve requirement for banks, a key sign that the government is easing the tight credit controls meant to curb inflation and surging property prices.
Recent data has show that the world’s second largest economy is cooling down. China’s inflation declined sharply in October, export growth has slowed, and HSBC announced yesterday that China’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index fell to 48 points, an indication of a contraction in spending.
In an ominous sign of things to come, Germany yesterday failed to secure buyers for 35 percent of its 10-year bonds put up for sale, sending borrowing costs higher and heightening fears of over Europe’s debt crisis.
Germany’s auction yesterday was one of the country’s worst bond sales since the launch of the euro, with the Bundesbank forced to buy large amounts of the bonds to ensure the auction would not fail.
Fears that contagion had spread to Europe’s largest and strongest economy, Germany, was clearly evident yesterday.
Network-equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), announced on Wednesday that it would be cutting 17,000 of its jobs worldwide, or 22 percent of its workforce, as it tries to save up to $1.35 billion a year to compete with its strongest rival Ericsson and a new wave of Chinese entrants.
Share prices for Groupon Inc shrank by more than 15 percent on Wednesday to close at $16.97, well below the $20 asking price of the coupon site’s initial public offering earlier this month.
It was the third straight day in a row that Groupon’s stock price had fallen, with the overall decline over the 3 days reaching up to about 34 percent.
The International Monetary Fund has stepped up as a lender of last resort, as it increased the firepower of its lending instruments and extending a six-month liquidity lifeline to indebted eurozone nations.
According to the IMF, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line would act as “an insurance against future shocks and as a short-term liquidity window to address the needs of crisis bystanders.”
The set of measures, said the IMF, are intended to “bolster the flexibility of scope” of its emergency facilities for countries facing liquidity problems.
Rock star Bruce Dickinson, lead singer for one of the world’s most popular heavy metal bands Iron Maiden, has promised to resurrect UK chartered airline company Astraeus Airlines, after the company went into administration on Monday due to financial difficulties.
After a much publicised outcry, the American Department of Justice is now calling for a review to determine if banks violated antitrust laws in their concerted and unsuccessful attempt at imposing debit card fees.
In a letter made public on Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department is “reviewing statements and actions by banks and their trade associations regarding possible increases in consumer fees for using debit cards.”
