Fears that growth could be slowing were heightened by a report showing factory activity in the country’s Mid-Atlantic region braked to its slowest pace in 10 months in June. The employment gauge fell to its lowest level since November. “I don’t know if this is temporary, related to everything that has been going on in…
Kan, who has made fiscal reform a top priority since taking office, also said he would map out the size of a future sales tax hike by the end of the fiscal year to March 31, 2011. The premier declined comment on when a tax rise might be implemented, but Democratic Party policy chief Koichiro…
Japan’s ruling Democratic Party has vowed to fix the country’s tattered finances and pledged to seek a decision on tax reform quickly, paving the way for a likely hike in a politically sensitive consumption tax. In their campaign platform for a July 11 upper house election, the Democrats also vowed to do their best to…
The measures go substantially beyond the sanctions the UN agreed on June 10 and are designed to pressure Tehran to return to talks over an uranium enrichment programme Western powers believe is designed to produce nuclear weapons. The steps, which could come into force within weeks, will focus on trade, including dual-use items, banking and…
Thousands of creditors of bankrupt US investment bank Lehman Brothers owed about $22bn will be offered earlier cash payments if they are willing to accept lower valuations on their claims. PwC, which is in charge of the collapsed bank’s main European operations, said that the majority of claims should be agreed by the end of…
New passenger car sales fell 9.3 percent in May in the EU as the effects of government support for the car industry slipped away and the economic environment remained difficult, industry association ACEA have announced. Governments helped carmakers hit by the crisis last year with scrapping incentive schemes that boosted demand for new cars, but…
Acquisitions vehicle Resolution said it would fund its planned takeover of French insurer AXA’s British life operations by raising £2bn ($2.91bn) in a rights issue. The acquisition would cost a total of £2.75bn, Resolution said, adding that it hoped to announce a deal by the end of June. The company, founded by insurance tycoon Clive…
Spain’s economy ministry has said it had not made a request for economic aid from the EU, after a newspaper report that the EU was preparing to activate a package in case Madrid asked for it. “This is lie. There’s no rescue. There’s nothing asked for, nor will there be, nothing, but nothing. I don’t…
South Korea’s government, alarmed by the wild swings of the won in turbulent markets, is close to slapping new controls on currency trading, though a news report that banks will get two years to comply calmed investors nerves. As Europe’s debt crisis unfolded, the won’s gyrations exceeded swings of most other currencies and officials in…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have urged European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to consider an EU-wide ban on short selling of shares and state bonds. In a letter published by the German government on June 9, the pair said the Commission should step up efforts to introduce tougher controls for…
