European countries hit hardest by the global slowdown have opted to boost public spending and risk debt rating downgrades rather than stoke social unrest as their economic booms turn to bust. Yet with unemployment soaring among young people and immigrants, faltering economies like Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal may struggle to avoid both outcomes. Caught
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Moody's Investors Service has cut the credit outlook for Bulgaria's banking system to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ and lowered to negative from stable the outlook on the Bank Financial Strength Ratings (BFSRs) and long-term local currency deposit ratings of DSK Bank PLC and Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD. The outlook on all ratings of First Investment Bank and
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Moody's Investors Service has placed the Baa2 long term local and foreign currency issuer ratings and provisional debt ratings of Gulf General Investment Company (GGICO) on review for possible downgrade, citing prospects of more difficult operating conditions in some of its key business lines and execution risk associated with the group's requirements to strengthen liquidity.
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Hours after taking $20 billion in new state cash, Bank of America and recent addition Merrill Lynch revealed they had lost almost as much last quarter, while Citigroup also made thumping losses. Bank of America said it had lost $1.79 billion in the fourth quarter, while Merrill lost $15.3 billion, and Citi revealed a loss
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Britain's economy will suffer its worst downturn in decades this year and policymakers around the world will have to consider further monetary and fiscal action, Bank of England Deputy Governor John Gieve said on Friday. Speaking a week after the BoE cut interest rates to a record low of 1.5 percent, Gieve said action already
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Bank of America will get another $20 billion in state cash and the U.S. Senate cleared the release of the remaining $350 billion of bailout funds, buoying stockmarkets despite fears of more bank losses. As further evidence that stricken credit markets are not responding to the efforts of the world's central banks, which have slashed
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The expiry of a ban on short-selling of Britain's financial stocks had no immediate impact on Friday as bank shares rallied, backing up claims by some investors that the ban was cosmetic and ineffective. Short-selling — selling borrowed stock in the hope of repaying the loan at a profit by buying the shares back at
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Ireland defended its dramatic move to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank, as fears over its impact on an already wounded economy hiked the cost of protecting against a sovereign default to record highs. Dublin abandoned plans to inject 1.5 billion euros into the commercial lender late on Thursday and opted instead to take it over amid
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The UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer has said that the leaders of the two communities discussed deadlock resolving mechanisms, among other issues, during their meeting on Friday in the framework of direct talks to solve the Cyprus problem, noting that ''it was a very good meeting and good progress was made.''
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President of the Republic Demetris Christofias said Friday's meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, in the context of direct talks to solve the Cyprus problem, brought them much closer to agreeing on issues regarding deadlock resolving mechanisms for the legislative and the judiciary. Returning to the Presidential Palace after the meeting, President Christofias
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