Business
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012 , by
Roddy Thomson
Eurozone opts to keep Greece under umbrella
Europe opted yesterday to keep Greece in the eurozone, agreeing a huge financial lifeline worth €237 billion but demanding Athens meet a long list of conditions first. The decision, reached after a marathon 13 hours of negotiations...
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Spain borrows €2.5 billion short term
Spain borrowed €2.5 billion in three- and six-month bonds yesterday and the interest rates it had to pay fell sharply on strong demand, after a debt rescue for Greece. Demand totalled €14.8 billion, enabling the treasury to raise the amoun...
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Strong demand for EU bailout fund bonds
The EU’s bailout fund, the EFSF, enjoyed strong demand yesterday at an auction of six-month debt, Germany’s central bank said. The Bundesbank, which organised the auction, said it received €6.208 billion worth of bids for €1.99 billion of...
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
British state borrowing in biggest surplus in January
British state borrowing showed the biggest surplus for four years in January, boosted by higher taxation revenues and state austerity measures, official data showed yesterday. The public sector net borrowing measure registereda surplus of...
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
European stocks and euro lower after Greek debt deal
European stock markets closed lower yesterday and the euro weakened, reversing early gains, as enthusiasm over another massive eurozone bailout for Greece faded on concerns more will need to be done. Dealers said that, while the ac...
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012 , by
Travelex Global Business Payments Malta
Daily currency report
Investors finally received confirmation that Greece will be granted its second bailout package worth over €130 billion after Athens promised to implement tougher spending cuts, and private investors agreed to accept a more substantial loss on Gre...
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Brent crude hits eight-month high after Iran ‘brinkmanship’
Brent crude hit an eight-month high in Asian trade yesterday after Iran halted its oil sales to France and Britain in what analysts said was a game of “political brinkmanship”. Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was up...
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Money market report for the week ended February 17
On Monday, February 13, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation. The auction was conducted on Tuesday, February 14 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €142.75 billion, €33.29 billion higher than the amount...
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
European stocks rise on Greek bailout hopes
European stock markets rose yesterday on confidence that a new bailout for Greece will finally be approved while sentiment got a boost from the latest Chinese move to ease credit. Trading was quiet in anticipation that the eurozone finance...
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
French industrial confidence below average but steady
French industrialists were deep in gloom again in February, but their confidence about prospects for their businesses was steady, official data signalled yesterday. The national statistics institute INSEE which provided the data said that...
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Italy does not require more budget cuts
Italy will not need any more austerity budget cuts even if its current recession lasts, Prime Minister Mario Monti told Italian finance chiefs in a speech in Milan yesterday. “If the recessions lasts, if the real economy does not improve,...
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012 , by
Travelex Global Business Payments Malta
Daily currency report
Sterling is heading back towards November highs against the US dollar after Friday’s forecast-beating UK retail sales data offered hope the British economy would avoid recession. However, the pound’s advance was held back somewhat as investors fa...
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Monday, February 20, 2012 , by
Chris Lefkow
Shared media monitoring may threaten free speech
US lawmakers expressed concern over the monitoring of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter by the Department of Homeland Security. Department officials defended the practice, meanwhile, at a congressional hearing,...
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Monday, February 20, 2012
Microsoft’s new site to deliver ‘latest buzz’
Microsoft launched an msnNOW website designed to deliver the “latest buzz” from Facebook, Twitter, Bing and BreakingNews.com. The service at now.msn.com analyses in real time Bing searches and updates at the popular online...
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Monday, February 20, 2012
Facebook dabbles with validating user identity
Facebook last week began testing a way for celebrities, journalists, athletes and others with massive followings to have their identities validated at the globally popular online social network. “The new process enables people to...
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Monday, February 20, 2012 , by
Glenn Chapman
Twitter revamps to connect the world
Twitter announced it has finished rolling out overhauled pages crafted to boost the appeal of the message-sharing service to users around the world. “At the very core there are fewer places you have to click and less you have...
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Monday, February 20, 2012 , by
Raghuram Rajan
The public and its problems
On a recent visit to Europe, I found economists, journalists and business people thoroughly frustrated with their politicians. Why, they ask, can’t politicians see the abyss that yawns before them, and come together to resolve the euro crisis onc...
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Monday, February 20, 2012
Spain slashes pay for state executives
Spain will slash pay for heads of state companies by around a quarter as part of its crisis spending cuts, the government has said. Pay will be limited to €105,000 for the heads of the biggest state firms, €80,000 for medium-sized ones and...
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Monday, February 20, 2012 , by
Thomas Smith
Shipping movements
The following vessels are due in Malta: The Oued eddahab from Annaba to Bejaia, the Janina from Annaba to Skikda, the Nicola from Algiers to Tunis (all Carmelo Caruana), the MV Eurocargo Venezia from Genoa to Civitavecchia and the M...
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Sunday, February 19, 2012 , by
Anthony Manduca
Globalisation increasing despite uncertain economic outlook – Ernst & Young
Despite faltering prospects for the world economy, globalisation is still increasing among a majority of the world’s 60 leading economies as they so far avoid descent into protectionism. However, 90 per cent of business...
