Economy

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 07:47 UTC

  British government to sell assets to help balance public finances

  

  The British Government is to sell off £16 billion of assets as part of moves to restore stability to the public finances, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to announce. Details of an initial round of sales that could raise £3 billion - including the Tote, the Dartford crossing, the Channel Tunnel rail link, and the Student Loan book.

• Friday, October 9th 2009 - 11:55 UTC

  Turbulence ahead for world rice market as stockpiles plunge

  

  Rice stockpiles of the world’s five largest exporters are forecast to plunge by a third to the lowest level in five years, and below last year when prices surged to a record, according to Concepction Calpe, senior economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

• Friday, October 9th 2009 - 11:09 UTC

  Who is to replace US consumer as the global growth engine?

  

  Since the United States consumer is no longer the main global growth engine, experts are expecting China to take over the role, although they are also looking for other locomotives in other regions of the world to help with economic recovery.

• Friday, October 9th 2009 - 10:12 UTC

  Economist Roubini warns about “the seeds of the next crisis”

  

  The US economist widely credited with having predicted the financial crisis has warned we are already “planting the seeds of the next crisis”. Nouriel Roubini told the BBC that he is concerned about the growing gap between the “bubbly and frothy” stock markets and the real economy.

• Friday, October 9th 2009 - 10:08 UTC

  Euro-zone leaves rates unchanged: “uncertainty remains high”

  

  The European Central Bank left the main rate at 1% and President Jean Claude Trichet said at a press conference in Venice on Thursday that the ECB has no plans to raise borrowing costs, describing their level as “appropriate”.

• Friday, October 9th 2009 - 05:42 UTC

  Bank of England “wait and see policy” leaves QE unchanged at £ 175 billion

  

  The Bank of England voted Thursday to hold interest rates at its 0.5% record low and continue with its £175 billion program to boost the money supply at its latest two-day meeting. The decision was taken despite concerns over the fragility of the UK recovery from recession.

• Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 11:19 UTC

  Cuba confirms there is no such thing as a free lunch and ends free meals

  

  Economist Nobel Milton Friedman use to say there is no such thing as a free lunch - but for years the majority of Cubans have been given free meals at state-run workplace canteens.

• Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 11:14 UTC

  All time US budget deficit record in 2009, equivalent to 9.9% of GDP

  

  The US budget deficit more than tripled to a record 1.4 trillion US dollars in the fiscal year to 30 September, according to US Congress estimates. Congressional analysts had previously predicted a deficit of 1.6 trillion but revised their latest estimate, which comes after the end of the fiscal year.

• Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 07:16 UTC

  Chile slaps 15% safeguard on Argentine, Uruguayan milk and cheese imports

  

  Chilean dairy farmers on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the government’s decision to impose safeguards on powder milk (whole and skinned) and Gouda cheese from Argentina and Uruguay.

• Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 03:26 UTC

  Spanish Central bank warns about bulging budget deficit and unemployment

  

  Controversy sparked between Spain’s government and the governor of the Central Bank over the magnitude of the budget deficit and rising unemployment which threatens loans and consumers’ repayments plus the stability of some Spanish banks.