Economy

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:28 UTC

  China lowers lending target; exporters demand “stable” Yuan

  

  Bank of China will maintain a reasonable pace of lending this year, Li Lihui, the president of the country's fourth-largest lender by assets said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:25 UTC

  Outbreak of foot and mouth disease in south China pig farms

  

  A total of 8,382 pigs have been culled after a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in south China's Guangdong Province, bordering Hong Kong, local animal husbandry and veterinary officials reported earlier this week.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 00:33 UTC

  Cement maker shares soar in Chilean markets on reconstruction expectations

  

  Chilean cement maker Melon led earnings in the IPSA stock market Wednesday operations with shares soaring 68% on expectations that the company would benefit from reconstruction efforts. Nevertheless, the IPSA select index fell 1.36% to 3708.91.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:51 UTC

  Venezuela’s economy contracts 3.3% in 2009; modest forecast for 2010

  

  Venezuela's economy fell by 3.3% in 2009 after contracting 5.8% in the last quarter, informed the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) which blamed the global crisis and falling prices for oil the country’s main export.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:39 UTC

  Russian billionaire looses 53 million USD deposit on villa purchase

  

  Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov lost 53 million US dollars deposit on a 530 million USD villa in southern France after a court ruled Tuesday that he failed to complete the purchase.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:37 UTC

  China dependent Australia raised interest rate 25 points to 4%

  

  Australia's central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time since October, as it seeks to cool its growing economy. The increase, to 4% from 3.75%, was widely expected by economists.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:31 UTC

  Canada leaves rates unchanged at 0.25% in spite of robust 5% growth

  

  The Bank of Canada took its first steps Tuesday toward returning the country to more normal interest-rate levels by signalling a more hawkish tone on inflation and acknowledging the economy is performing better than expected on “vigorous” consumer demand.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:23 UTC

  Ford Motor becomes tops US sales ahead of GM and Toyota

  

  Ford Motor overtook rival General Motors in US sales on Tuesday as Toyota faltered amid a series of mass recalls and a congressional investigation into its safety standards. Toyota reported an 8.7% drop in February US sales to 100,027 vehicles, while the overall industry was expected to perform significantly better than depressed year-ago levels.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:04 UTC

  Real Madrid and Barcelona the world’s richest soccer teams

  

  According to this year’s “Football Money League” report from Deloitte, some soccer clubs — such as British teams Arsenal and Chelsea, specifically — are falling down on the job when it comes to pricing their exposure with sponsors. The annual report ranks and analyzes international teams by their revenues, and breaks out sponsorship and advertising income.

• Tuesday, March 2nd 2010 - 04:44 UTC

  EU demands more efforts from Greece to reduce deficit

  

  The European Union top finance chief said Monday that the Euro-zone is prepared to take concerted action to support Greece, but he emphasized that Greece needs to make more of an effort to reduce its deficit.