Britain's recovering housing market could dip again because would-be buyers will struggle to get mortgages, Bank of England policymaker and house market expert Kate Barker said on Tuesday. House prices in Britain slumped by around 20 percent during the global credit crisis as risk-wary banks withdrew from new lending and the longest recession on record

The Bank of England may have to restart its asset-buying programme if the economic outlook worsens, Governor Mervyn King said on Tuesday. The central bank paused its 11-month-old 200 billion pound asset-buying — or quantitative easing — earlier this month and said that the programme could be revived if economic conditions deteriorate. But many analysts

Oil broke a five-day rally on Tuesday, although prices were supported near $80 by ongoing strikes by French oil workers, which could close over half of the country's refining capacity. U.S. crude futures for April fell 37 cents to $79.94 a barrel by 0934 GMT. The March contract, which expired on Monday, hit $80.51 during

Cyprus has recorded one of the highest decreases in the EU as regards the number of nights spent in hotels in 2009. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the largest decreases in the number of nights spent in hotels in 2009 were recorded in Latvia (-23.3%), Lithuania (-20.4%), Cyprus(-19.7%) and Slovakia

The European Commission has announced that a total of 188 Turkish Cypriot farmers and rural enterprises have been awarded EU funding to help bring their operation in line with EU standards and best practices. There are two Rural Development Grant Schemes, namely Improving Agricultural Production and Supporting Rural Enterprise, which are funded under the EU

The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, will resume on Wednesday the negotiating process to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem. According to an announcement, issued by UNFICYP, the meeting will take place at 10.00am at the official residence of UNFICYP

Representatives of the Central Cooperative Bank members approved the Bank's accounts, with Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides calling on the cooperative movement to take the initiative in efforts to reduce lending and deposit interest rates, through healthy competition, for the benefit of society and the country at large. Director General of the

Marfin CLR Public Co Ltd (LI), Cyprus’ largest financial services company in terms of daily transacted volume on the CSE reported its indicative 2009 results with profit after tax coming in at EUR4.1mln against losses of EUR5.3mln in 2008. The improved profitability is mainly attributed to higher income from stock market and financial services, whereby

The Board of Directors of Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company Ltd approved the results for 2009, which amounted to EUR5.9 mln profit after tax compared to EUR 5.68 mln in 2008 despite the fact that total revenue fell to EUR 107.98 mln in 2009 from EUR 127.73 mln in 2008. The decline in revenue was