World stocks rebounded from a 5-1/2 year low on Friday and oil rose above $50 as expectations of further interest rate cuts helped to cushion deepening gloom about the broader economy. Wall Street was set for a firmer start, one day after the benchmark S&P 500 index fell to its lowest level since 1997 as
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The European Commission's economic stimulus plan will include a significant budgetary expansion for European Union members, the president of the EU's executive arm said on Friday. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also signaled the cash should be spent to boost the competitiveness of the 27-country EU, hit hard by the global economic and financial crisis.
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Greece gave final approval to a EUR28 bln bank support plan aimed at ensuring access to loans for small- and medium-sized businesses, which make up over half its slowing economy. Parliament approved the package despite the opposition of left-wing parties which said the package benefited wealthy bankers at the expense of ordinary Greeks, a fifth
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EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimir Spidla and Cyprus Labour and Social Insurance Minister Soteroula Charalambous inaugurated here Thursday, during a ceremony at Ledras Street, the EU campaign “Do you know what social Europe can do for you?”, at the presence of the Head of the European Representation to Cyprus Androulla
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The ranks of unemployed in China are likely to rise next year as the impact of the global economic crisis starts to bite in the world's most populous country. Stabilising the jobless rate is the government's top priority, the social security minister said this week, as the stability-obsessed Communist Party seeks to head off strikes
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British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is considering tougher laws to force banks to lend to small businesses struggling with the effects of the global credit crunch, newspapers reported on Friday. The reports said Darling was looking at measures which could cap interest rates on loans to small firms, while a leading Labour lawmaker
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Signs of distress in the global economy mounted, with shares in U.S. bank Citigroup Inc plunging on fears about its future, oil prices falling and the future of U.S. automakers hanging in the balance. The Bank of Japan, which left interest rates unchanged at 0.3 percent, warned a recovery would take time given the economic
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Asian stock markets rebounded from a five-year low on Friday as a variety of rumours such as China cutting interest rates later in the day prompted investors to cover short positions before the weekend. The recovery in stocks pushed the yen down from a 13-year peak hit against the pound, knocked safe-haven government bonds lower
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The Swiss National Bank made a surprise full percentage point cut in interest rates on Thursday, trying to stave off a recession as the global outlook worsens fast, and other central banks are seen following suit. In a third cut in six weeks, the SNB lowered its target band for the 3-month Swiss franc LIBOR
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EU states raised doubts about the European Commission's planned 130 billion euro ($163 billion) growth package on Thursday, with Berlin criticising its tax cut proposals and Prague rejecting the idea of bloc-wide measures. Germany has said the Commission, the EU's executive, plans to request that member states contribute about 1 percent of the bloc's gross
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