The European Central Bank will buy eurozone government bonds to help support fractured markets, abandoning firm resistance to full-scale asset purchases in light of Greece’s debt crisis. The ECB said in a statement that the step, dubbed the ‘nuclear option’ by many economists, was justified because of government promises to meet strict budget targets and…
With all the cash for gold advertising you see these days, offering you a quick payment for your gold, you would think selling gold would be a pretty simple process. Well if you want to get anywhere near what your gold is actually worth it takes a bit more than just picking the first gold…
Freddie Mac, the second-largest provider of US residential mortgage funds, has asked for an additional $10.6bn in federal aid after it lost $8bn in the first quarter. The company warned it would continue to need billions more in government funds because the housing market remains fragile. The loss was $6.7bn before a $1.3bn dividend payment…
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, a key reformer in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, is leaving office in what could be a major blow to a crackdown on graft and tax evasion. Indrawati, 47, was named managing director of the World Bank Group, a sign of the growing clout of emerging economies but also reflecting…
The Bank of Japan has said it needs to do more to foster economic growth and renewed its commitment to ultra-loose monetary policy even as it forecast consumer prices would start rising again sooner than earlier thought. As expected, the central bank refrained from new action at its policy meeting and kept its benchmark rate…
Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein told American television recently that he retains the support of the board as well as support from clients since the SEC accused the powerful but embattled bank of fraud earlier in April. Blankfein, after testifying for more than three hours before the Senate’s permanent investigations subcommittee, maintained…
Taiwan and China aim to sign a landmark free trade-style agreement by June aimed at bringing the political rivals closer while opening the often-isolated island’s $390bn economy to trade pacts around the world. The economic cooperation framework (ECFA) agreement between economic powerhouse China and export-reliant Taiwan would conclude two years of trade and transit talks…
US firms working in China are more concerned about regulatory and policy issues than about pushing China to revalue its currency, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce said in Beijing recently. American businesses are encountering new obstacles to market access as China’s growing economy leads them to expand deeper into inland provinces, AmCham…
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked for the activation of an EU/IMF aid package on April 23 aimed at pulling the nation out of a debt crisis. “It is a national and imperative need to officially ask our partners in the EU for the activation of the support mechanism we jointly created,” Papandreou said in…
New Zealand is growing more strongly than expected but the recovery is still patchy and the government will face high deficits and borrowing for several years yet, Finance Minister Bill English said in a speech recently. He said the economy had emerged from the global slowdown and domestic recession in better shape than many other…
