The trade deficit widened sharply in the first eight months of the year, as imports rose sharply and exports rose only slightly. According to the latest data from the Statistical Service, the trade deficit rose by 23.1% to EUR 4,144.3 mln January-August 2008 compared with EUR 3,365.7 mln in January-August 2007. Total imports/arrivals in January-August
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The EGM of SeaStar Capital Plc (SEAS) approved the authorization of the Board to proceed with the issue and allocation of 192,307,693 new shares of nominal value EUR0.04 each of the nominal and not issued share capital, at its sole discretion, to one or more strategic and/or institutional investors at the price of EUR0.26 per
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Sterling sank to a record low versus the euro and oil hit a 20-month trough while government bonds rose after a Bank of England report pointing to a sharp economic contraction raised concerns about the global economy. Two-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to their lowest level since July 2003 while the low-yielding yen rose broadly
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A number of deals designed to cure the global financial crisis were in danger of unravelling on Wednesday, with losses mounting at banks and economies showing further signs of serious deterioration. Economies including the euro zone, Britain, China and South Africa reported data supporting the arrival of a global recession. The International Monetary Fund withheld
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Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.5 percent by midday on Wednesday as defensives forged higher and a grim inflation report from the Bank of England spurred investors' hopes of seeing further interest rate cuts. At 1130 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 63.1 points at 4,309.79 points. The index fell 3.6 percent on Tuesday as investors
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British unemployment rose to its highest level in more than a decade in the three months to September as the economy tips into recession, official data showed on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people without a job rose to 1.825 million in the three months to September, the highest level
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The world is not about to run out of oil, but there is a risk its reserves may not be exploited fast enough to meet global demand growth in the years ahead, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. The agency's World Energy Outlook for 2008 stopped short of sounding the alarm that oil supplies
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The front cover of the New Yorker magazine this week said it all: a tiny patch of blue light at the end of a deep, dark tunnel. For Democrats in America, Barack Obama’s victory after eight years of George Bush felt like light at the end of a very long tunnel indeed. In the stock
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Among a group of thinkers who predicted the credit crunch in 2003, the London-based New Economics Foundation is now advancing radical proposals on ways to rebuild the British economy. In its overview of the impact of the crisis last week, the International Monetary Fund predicted Britain would lag other major economies, forecasting a decline of
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By Ross Colvin (Reuters) President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to help middle-class U.S. homeowners facing foreclosure, but he has said little about how he will help low-income families made homeless by a worsening economy. Obama has spoken broadly about boosting affordable housing and restoring public housing subsidies. But with economists forecasting a deep recession in
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