Economy

• Monday, November 2nd 2009 - 11:59 UTC

  Lloyds planning huge shares and bonds issue to cut off from government umbrella

  

  Lloyds Banking Group is prepared to pay a fee of close to £2.5 billion to steer clear of the Government Asset Protection Scheme (GAPS), according to BBC sources. Lloyds believes it can survive without the GAPS and does not want the additional government influence which comes with the scheme.

• Monday, November 2nd 2009 - 11:38 UTC

  China’s manufacturing increases at fastest rate in 18 months

  

  China’s Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of the country’s manufacturing activities, rose at the fastest pace in 18 months in October when it expanded to 55.2, up from 54.3 in September, the China Federation of Logistic and Purchasing said this week.

• Sunday, November 1st 2009 - 19:37 UTC

  Bank of Japan to withdraw funds’ support programs as of next March

  

  A divided Bank of Japan began withdrawing from credit markets on Friday and said it would scrap all key funding support programmes by March, resisting government pressure to support corporate borrowing until the economy strengthens.

• Saturday, October 31st 2009 - 06:46 UTC

  EU unemployment soars to 9.2%: 22 million out of work

  

  Figures from the Europe Union's statistics office show that consumer prices in the Euro zone fell for the fifth month in a row in October while the unemployment rate for September rose again.

• Saturday, October 31st 2009 - 05:32 UTC

  Chilean Central bank could begin hiking interest rate next second quarter

  

  The Chilean central bank will likely begin hiking the benchmark interest rate, currently at a record low 0.5%, in the second quarter of next year, according to the minutes of its October monetary policy meeting released Wednesday.

• Friday, October 30th 2009 - 21:59 UTC

  Argentina buys wine from Chile to face shortfall in production

  

  Still hurting from a yearlong drought, Argentina is turning to Chile for wine imports in order to keep up with popular demand for wine.

• Friday, October 30th 2009 - 11:07 UTC

  Buenos Aires city and province issue IOUs to pay suppliers

  

  Faced with extremely tight finances, both the city and province of Buenos Aires have decided to pay suppliers with bonds to bridge the widening spending gap, the Argentine State Supplier Union, or UAPE, said in a press release Thursday.

• Friday, October 30th 2009 - 00:43 UTC

  Technically recession is over in the US, but even Obama was cautious

  

  The United States economy grew at an annual pace of 3.5% between July and September, its first expansion in more than a year. The growth was helped by a substantial government spending plan, including a scrappage scheme to boost car sales.

• Thursday, October 29th 2009 - 10:16 UTC

  UK petrol prices at their highest level of the year

  

  Petrol prices in the United Kingdom are now at their highest level of the year, according to the AA. Average UK prices at the pumps are now 107.14p a litre - beating the previous 2009 high of 107.03p a litre on September 9.

• Thursday, October 29th 2009 - 10:08 UTC

  Norway first in Europe to raise interest rates

  

  Norway has become the first European country to raise its interest rates since the beginning of the global financial crisis. The country's central bank raised the cost of borrowing to 1.5% from 1.25% in a widely-expected move.