Economy

• Saturday, September 8th 2012 - 06:41 UTC

  Indian national named World Bank chief economist senior Vice-president

  

  World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced the appointment of Indian national Kaushik Basu as the institution’s new Chief Economist and Senior Vice President.

• Saturday, September 8th 2012 - 06:31 UTC

  Merkel supports ECB debt-plan despite strong protests and threats in Germany

  

  Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the European Central Bank on Friday after its plan to buy the debt of troubled Euro zone states stirred outrage in Germany and threats from some in her own party to try and block the scheme.

• Saturday, September 8th 2012 - 06:26 UTC

  Europe threatens to take Russia to the WTO over restrictive practices

  

  Europe's trade chief threatened to take Russia to the World Trade Organization over a string of restrictive practices, saying Moscow needed to play by the rules now it was a member of the global body.

• Saturday, September 8th 2012 - 06:16 UTC

  The day after the Charlotte convention, back to reality with the jobs’ market stats

  

  US President Barack Obama said on Friday the labour market is not hiring workers fast enough, following the release of a government report that showed weaker-than-expected employment figures.

• Friday, September 7th 2012 - 06:33 UTC

  Rousseff announces major shake-up of Brazilian costs beginning with lower power rates

  

  Brazil will cut energy costs for companies and consumers while pressuring banks to lower lending rates to accelerate growth, said President Dilma Rousseff in a speech on national television to commemorate the country’s independence.

• Friday, September 7th 2012 - 06:25 UTC

  FAO says global food prices remained steady in August, but “the game is not over”

  

  Global food prices remained steady in August, the United Nations food agency said Thursday, but warned that “the game is not over” as it was only the beginning of the harvest season.

• Friday, September 7th 2012 - 06:04 UTC

  IMF showed strong support for ECB new framework in support of the Euro

  

  Managing Director Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed strong support of the European Central Bank's new framework for intervention in the Euro zone debt crisis, deeming Thursday’s action 'an important step toward strengthening stability and growth.'

• Friday, September 7th 2012 - 05:41 UTC

  ECB bond-buying scheme announcement boosts world markets

  

  Asian shares looked set for their biggest daily gain in nearly five weeks on Friday after the European Central Bank outlined its bond-buying scheme to help calm the Euro zone's debt crisis, while firm US data fed speculation of a strong jobs report later in the day.

• Friday, September 7th 2012 - 03:15 UTC

  Argentina achieves 12-month trade surplus target in August with 10.04bn dollars

  

  Argentina's trade surplus rose to 1.64 billion dollars in August, more than double the surplus in the same month a year ago achieving the twelve months target four months ahead, President Cristina Fernandez announced on Thursday.

• Friday, September 7th 2012 - 02:55 UTC

  OECD warns recession is “taking hold” of Euro zone including largest economies

  

  Europe's debt crisis is pushing the 17-country Euro-zone toward recession and dragging down the global economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report.