Merkel Says Greece is Saved and Other News (Weekly Roundup)

Here’s a weekly look at the top business, finance and world economy news.

World Economy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised a hard-won deal to rescue heavily indebted Greece from its financial woes, insisting Friday that it will steady the wobbly euro and showed that Europe could cope with the crisis despite having asked the International Monetary Fund to join in on a bailout package.

Here’s a weekly look at the top business, finance and world economy news.

World Economy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised a hard-won deal to rescue heavily indebted Greece from its financial woes, insisting Friday that it will steady the wobbly euro and showed that Europe could cope with the crisis despite having asked the International Monetary Fund to join in on a bailout package.

The rest of the world aren’t as convinced. Across the globe this week, headlines have been dominated by experts and economists pondering the possible end of the Eurozone in the near future.

Related: The Long and Winding Road to Recovery Special Feature!

Related: Eurozone Bosses Say Non! To Greek Bailout

Related: Eurozone Divorce Imminent: Nouriel Roubini

 

The Reserve Bank of India (BRI) last week lifted official interest rates for the 10th time in just over a year to help curb stubbornly high inflation as growth slows in Asia’s third-largest economy. The repo rate was raised by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent. Wholesale inflation in India stands at 9 percent, roughly double the central bank’s comfort level.

Economists expect the RBI to lift rates by a further 50 basis points in 2011, with the tightening cycle seen to be nearing its peak.

Industries & Business

The solar industry has warned it will cease to exist in New South Wales within eight weeks without action from the State Government.

Lobbying by the industry, along with disquiet on the Coalition’s own backbench, contributed to the Government’s backdown earlier this month on changes to the Solar Bonus Scheme.

The Government had announced it would retrospectively cut the tariff paid to households with solar from 60 cents per kilowatt hour to 40 cents.

Social networking isn’t limited to the time-wasting antics of kids on Facebook and Friendster. A new Web site aims to turn business networking on its ear.

A prime tenet of all social networking sites is simple, a play on the six-degrees-of-separation meme: If everyone is only a few friends distant from everyone else, that girl you like — or your future boss — is just an e-mail away. Tracked.com wraps that concept in data analysis, creating a weird hybrid the company hopes will transform how business gets done.

Related:Go Social – Or Die
Related: Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Bets Big on Asian Internet
Related: What Tech Bubble? Internet Companies May Actually Be UNDER-Valued.

Companies & Investment

Aviva has sold its RAC business for £1bn to Carlyle Group, the private equity firm, as the insurance giant focuses on its main savings and insurance operations.

Oracle’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings climbed 36% as the business-software giant reported strong sales from the company’s traditional software and services business, although hardware systems demand was flat. Shares fell 5.4% to $30.64 in after-hours trading.

Sliding oil prices hit U.S. oil majors, worsening a losing trend that started in early May. Shares of those with production more leveraged to oil, such as Chevron Corp. (CVX, $99.36, -$1.71, -1.69%), suffered the most. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM, $78.44, -$1.38, -1.73%) also declined. Shares of EOG Resources Inc. (EOG, $100.16, -$1.18, -1.16%) and Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR, $19.13, -$0.27, -1.39%) slid as well.

Personal Finance

Financial research firm Markit has found that compared to May, 36% of UK households considered themselves financially worse off in June. Only 6% saw an improvement in their personal finances.

Worryingly, the monthly household finance index’s leading measure fell to 35.1 – anything below 50 shows a decline in personal financial positions compared to the previous month. This is its lowest level since March, 2009, when the UK was still in the grip of recession.

Check out our Real-Time Consumer Confidence Index

Despite a slowdown in the Philippine economy, the 40 richest Filipinos got richer this year on the back of a booming stock market, the business magazine Forbes Asia said on Thursday.

In “The Philippines’ 40 Richest” published in the magazine’s July issue, Forbes Asia said the wealth of the country’s richest personalities collectively rose to an all-time high of $34 billion, up from $22.8 billion in 2010.

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