United States

• Saturday, March 28th 2009 - 08:01 UTC

  Biden advances President Obama’s Latinamerican approach

  

  United States Vice President Joe Biden is on a four-day trip to Central and South America for meetings he said represent a “new day” for partnerships in the Americas.

• Saturday, March 28th 2009 - 03:34 UTC

  US economy at its worst in fourth quarter but could be bottoming out

  

  The United States economy contracted at a stunning pace of 6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the most in 26 years, as consumers cut down on spending and exports weakened.

• Friday, March 27th 2009 - 08:02 UTC

  Obama administration unveils regulatory framework for financial system

  

  United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has outlined far-reaching plans to strengthen government authority over the US financial system. The measures are designed to prevent the kind of systemic risk-taking among banks that has contributed to the current financial crisis.

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 17:54 UTC

  Obama defends dollar and “extraordinary strong” US economy

  

  Calls from China and other emerging economies for the creation of a new global currency to replace the US dollar are unnecessary because confidence in the dollar is “extraordinarily strong” said US president Barack Obama.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 07:54 UTC

  Geithner, Bernanke reject suggestions to replace the US dollar as global currency

  

  Unites States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dismissed on Tuesday suggestions by leading emerging economies that the global economy move away from using the dollar as the main reserve currency.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 22:44 UTC

  Positive reaction to US plan to buy one trillion USD in toxic assets

  

  United States announced Monday details of a plan to buy up to one trillion US dollars worth of toxic assets to help repair banks' balance sheets. The “Public-Private Investment Programme” will purchase the troubled mortgages and securities that have been at the root of the credit crunch.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 08:25 UTC

  US to announce Monday plan for purchase of banks’ toxic assets

  

  A key adviser within US President Barack Obama's administration says she is “incredibly confident” the US economy will recover within 12 months. Christina Romer, head of the White House's economic advice council, told Fox TV “we will be seeing signs the economy is turning around”.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 07:53 UTC

  Banking system losses in the US keep mounting: 32 billion in fourth quarter

  

  United States banks lost 32.1 billion US dollars in the last quarter of 2008 - even worse than the 26.2 billion originally reported, US federal regulators say.

• Saturday, March 21st 2009 - 08:47 UTC

  Democratic Congress could hold surprises for Obama’s ambitious budgets

  

  The US budget deficit will hit 1.8 trillion US dollars this year, a record amount, according to US Congress estimates. The White House said the prediction by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would not alter President Barack Obama's policy agenda, nor would it affect its goal to cut the deficit in half by 2013, it added.

• Friday, March 20th 2009 - 06:53 UTC

  US Congress reacts to AIG and targets Treasury Secretary

  

  US lawmakers in the House of Representatives have voted in favour of a bill to levy a 90% tax on big bonuses from firms bailed out by taxpayers.