Moody's Investors Service said that the additional fiscal measures announced by the Greek government are consistent with Moody's current A2 rating, with a negative outlook, for Greece's government bonds. Moody's also published an IssuerComment, entitled "A Ten-Point Analysis of Greece's A2 (Neg) Rating", which reiterates the rating agency's rationale behind Greece's rating and the conditions

In the last two years, the UK pub sector has experienced significant pressure ensuing from the current economic downturn as well as changing beer-consumption habits and the ban on smoking in public places, Moody's Investors Service said in a sector performance update. Pub operators are enacting meaningful changes to limit the negative impact of the

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said on Thursday he was optimistic that his government's extra savings package aimed at fighting a debt crisis would allow its 2010 budget target to be met. Droutsas also told Deutschlandfunk radio that Athens needed support from EU partners so that government borrowing would not be too expensive, but

Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport on Tuesday announced that it was freezing all airport charges and fees (landing, parking, safety, terminal and ground services) this year, while promoting a package of additional discounts to airline companies in order to overcome whatever effects of the ongoing economic crisis. The Athens Airport presented an "incentives programme for

Asian shares eked out gains and the euro extended its rise on Thursday after Greece announced fresh austerity measures to reduce its deficit and on data pointing to a rebound in the U.S. jobs market. Mining stocks were boosted by copper's surge on the London Metal Exchange where the metal struck a 7-week high following

U.S. employers shed 20,000 private-sector jobs in February according to a report by ADP on Wednesday, fewer than the 60,000 jobs lost in January and inline with analysts' expectations. With the labor market remaining one of the weakest points of the economy, analysts were encouraged by the easing trend. Recent severe winter storms in the

U.S. stocks edged higher at the open on Wednesday after a report showed private employers cut fewer jobs in February, adding to optimism ahead of a critical employment report later in the week. The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 21.39 points, or 0.21 percent, to 10,427.37. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) rose