Nervous investors kept the euro and stocks within narrow ranges on Thursday with interest focused on any signal from the European Central Bank's rate meeting about a policy easing and a Spanish bond sale that will test demand for Europe's debt. The single currency edged up 0.1% to $1.2714, after earlier bouncing off support at
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Hong Kong shares fell for the first time in four sessions on Thursday, with China Unicom among the top drags on the benchmark Hang Seng Index and Chinese inflation data giving investors little incentive to chase a New Year rally further. China Unicom , the country's second-largest mobile operator, was also among the top
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Greece's budget deficit widened last year as an austerity-fuelled recession cancelled out much of the extra revenues the government was hoping to raise through emergency taxes, data showed on Thursday. The central government budget gap widened 0.8% year-on-year to 21.64 billion euros ($27.45 billion) last year, according to figures from the finance ministry. The data
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. — Foreign policy achievements BY DR ANDRESTINOS N. PAPADOPOULOS, AMBASSADOR A.H. Today’s new world order is mostly led by non-western giants, such as China, India and Brazil. Brazil rose as a major player with global influence through hard work at home. As a result, it managed to acquire the authority to engage in decision-making
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. BY SHAVASB BOHDJALIAN As the euro touched a new 16-month low on Monday at 1.2665 against the dollar and an 11-year low of 97.28 against the yen, the international media rushed with headlines portraying the move as a negative development, with some going as far as to state that this is the prelude to
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. Why did it take the employers federation OEV so long to realise that we should hire controllers from other EU states to resolve the air traffic chaos? Is it because: a) the trade unions threatened to strike in other sectors; b) the pro-labour Minister refused to discuss the matter; or, c) the controllers were
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* Russians ready to invest or escape Putin’s clampdown? * The continued downgrades of the Cyprus banking system, made worse by the local banks’ exposure to Greek government bonds (GGBs) and the deteriorating fiscal situation in both countries, is putting the squeeze on shareholders who fear some banks could face collapse or become takeover targets,
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Greece's privatisations agency said on Wednesday it shortlisted three companies that expressed interest in the sale of its state lotteries. The state lotteries tender was launched last month as part of an ambitious 50-billion euro asset sale plan to help Greece cut a public debt. The bidders are Austrian Lotteries, a joint bid by Sisal,
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Turkish Cypriots spent less over the UN-monitored Green Line in 2011 than in 2010, according to data from JCC Payment Systems. Plastic card spending by “Turkish credit cards” (cards issued by Turkish banks) in the south fell by 7.8% to EUR 17.14 mln, from EUR 18.59 mln in 2010. However, this was still much larger
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GC spending in north and Turkey drops 6% in 2011 Spending by Greek Cypriots in northern Cyprus and Turkey dropped by 6% in 2011 to EUR 10.0 mln, from EUR 10.7 mln in 2010, according to data from JCC Payment Systems. One of the biggest falls was recorded in the category of entertainment, which also
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