Total loan growth in Cyprus by December 2008 reached 33.4%, down from November’s 38.8% growth with the total amount of all loans at EUR 54.71 bln, according to the December Monetary Survey of the Central Bank of Cyprus. Consumer credit increased 38% year-on-year to EUR 4.33 bln, housing loans were up 29% at EUR 10.42
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Nearly four months before this week's arrest of the boss of a New York investment firm on charges of defrauding at least 1,500 investors of more than $370 million, Howard Stevens suspected the company was a sham. Stevens went online and warned other investors. Using the nickname "hBomb," he wrote on an Internet message board
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Citibank analysts are forecasting that Bank of Cyprus will report EUR 485.4 mln in net profits for 2008, having maintained their price target at EUR 4/share. Bank of Cyprus will release preliminary 2008 results before market open on 3 February. The full audited results and the 2009 financial targets will be announced after market close
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About 20 million Chinese rural migrants have lost jobs as the nation's economic growth has faltered, a senior official said on Monday, promising policies to boost incomes and a softer approach to potential unrest. Chen Xiwen, director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, told a news conference that a recent survey
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Asian stocks fell on Monday, with forecasts of corporate earnings slashed as the global economy rapidly deteriorates, steering investors toward the yen and U.S. dollar, which hit a two-month high against the euro. Major European stocks were expected to open as much as 1.2 percent lower, according to financial bookmakers, with the focus on expectations
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Facing opposition from Republican lawmakers to parts of his economic recovery plan, President Barack Obama called Democratic Congressional leaders to a meeting on Monday to drive home his message of urgency. With hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs, many their homes, and a rapidly shrinking economy, Obama is under pressure to move swiftly
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Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou has said on Sunday that a Cyprus flagged ship which has been reported to be carrying arms that originated from Iran and was forced by an American military vessel to dock at Limassol Port last week, remains at the port, adding the issue is sensitive and delicate. Invited to comment on
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Friday against a retreat into financial protectionism and urged political and business leaders to work in concert on ways to solve the global economic crisis. Corporate chiefs and financial policymakers met behind closed doors at the World Economic Forum to lay the groundwork for new regulatory structures and
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The U.S. economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly 27 years in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Friday, sinking deeper into recession as consumers and business cut spending. In a report that showed a broad-based contraction nearly across all sectors, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product, which measures total goods and
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British mortgage lending rose three times faster than expected in December after approvals edged up from November's record low, but economists said Friday's data did not herald a housing market turn-around. The Bank of England said that banks lent a net 1.903 billion pounds ($2.72 billion) for home purchase last month, up from 834 million
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