Germany, France and Britain announced plans on Tuesday to introduce a bank levy to help meet the costs of the financial crisis, without waiting for a G20 summit this week, underscoring a rift with key partners. A joint statement said the three biggest European economies were "committed to the full implementation of the ambitious G20

Greece will get through its fiscal crisis without having to restructure its debts, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday. "We still have a credibility problem," Papaconstantinou told Germany's Handelsblatt business daily. But asked whether Greece could overcome the crisis without a debt restructuring, he replied: "Yes, absolutely." "We must

Spain does not have a problem with the premium investors demand to hold its debt over that issued by Germany, the benchmark sovereign issuer in Europe, Spain's economy minister said in a newspaper interview. Asked if the so-called spreads were a problem, Economy Minister Elena Salgado told German business daily Handelsblatt: "Not at all." "The

French bank Credit Agricole pushed back profit targets for struggling Greek unit Emporiki on Tuesday and will take a 400 million euro ($536.7 million) write-down as Greece fights its debt load. Credit Agricole said Emporiki would return to profit in 2012 — a year later than previously forecast — and more than doubled its 2010

British finance minister George Osborne produced the harshest budget in a generation on Tuesday, slashing spending, raising taxes and slapping a levy on banks in a drive to cut a record budget deficit to almost nothing in five years. The 39-year-old Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer said government spending would fall by around 25 percent

South African President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday he was confident the Soccer World Cup, hosted for the first time in Africa, will boost job creation and economic growth in his country. "The event itself has created such an opportunity that our economy is not going to be of the same size after the 2010

China firmly supports measures by the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund to help Greece out of its debt crisis, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Tuesday. "As a member country of the IMF, China shoulders corresponding obligations," Chen told visiting Greek Economy Minister Louka Katseli, according to an account of his remarks posted