Spain faces $274 billion headache in 2013

MADRID (AFP) ― Spain defied the markets by averting a sovereign bailout this year but high interest rates could yet force Madrid to its knees as the nation confronts a 207-billion-euro ($274 billion) financing headache in 2013.The eurozone’s fourth-biggest economy has skirted a rescue so far even after slipping into a recession in mid-2011 that has sent the unemployment rate soaring to 25 percent, the highest in Spain’s modern history.Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government reached out in June

Jan. 1, 2013

China’s Chengdu aiming to be world’s next Silicon Valley

CHENGDU (AFP) ― Entrepreneurs in China’s southwest are dreaming of turning the city of Chengdu into the world’s next Silicon Valley as the government encourages more investment outside the booming coastal regions.Small startups as well as big-name western companies have flocked to the metropolis of 14 million people, attracted by cheap labor costs and favorable government investment policies and hoping to tap into China’s rapidly expanding consumer market.And the Silicon Valley dream is becomin

Dec. 30, 2012

IMF, EU push for less drastic deficit cuts

PARIS (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund and European Commission officials have encouraged France and its eurozone partners not to fixate on deficit reduction targets if it would exacerbate the bloc’s debt crisis.The head of an IMF mission in France, Edward Gardner, urged officials in Paris last week to consider their 2013 budget targets “in a broader European context.”The IMF and the EU Commission expect the French public deficit to amount to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product this year

Dec. 30, 2012

BOJ says will work with new cabinet

TOKYO (AFP) ― The head of Japan’s central bank has vowed to work with the nation’s new government to tackle deflation, according to an interview. “The Bank of Japan, not just the government, will support efforts to strengthen growth potential,” Masaaki Shirakawa told the Nikkei business daily.Shirakawa added that both monetary easing and measures to strengthen economic growth were necessary to boost inflation.He made the remarks after Shinzo Abe, sworn in as Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday,

Dec. 30, 2012

Spain has tough year ahead: P.M.

MADRID (AP) ― Spain faces another tough year as it grapples with recession, a deep financial crisis and 25 percent unemployment, its prime minister said.In his end-of-year assessment, Mariano Rajoy said the country’s crisis had been worse than anticipated. “We are facing a very tough year, especially in its first half,” he said. “Spain’s economy will remain in recession for some time, but we expect it will improve in the second half of 2013.”While Rajoy was speaking, investor concerns government

Dec. 30, 2012

Settlement reached in Toyota recall cases

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it has reached a settlement worth more than $1 billion in a case involving unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles.The company said the deal will resolve hundreds of lawsuits from Toyota owners who said the value of their cars and trucks plummeted after a series of recalls stemming from claims that Toyota vehicles accelerated unintentionally.Steve Berman, a lawyer representing Toyota owners, said the settlement is the largest in U.S.

Dec. 27, 2012

India set to clear IKEA retail plan: minister

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― India is on track to approve a bid by Swedish furniture giant IKEA to open its trademark blue-and-yellow stores in the country as it seeks big new markets for its flat-pack products, a minister said.Last month the Foreign Investment Promotion Board rejected 15 of IKEA’s 30 product lines, underscoring the regulatory hurdles faced by foreign stores hoping to enter the Indian market.But after complaints from IKEA over the curbs, commerce minister Anand Sharma said late Wednesday t

Dec. 27, 2012

Japan’s Aso hits out at BOJ: reports

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s new finance chief hit out at the country’s under-pressure central bank, reports said Thursday, saying it was “slow” in tackling deflation that has plagued the economy for years.The remarks by Taro Aso, a former prime minister, were the latest sharp comments that the Liberal Democratic Party, which won national elections this month, has thrown at the Bank of Japan over its handling of policy matters.The BOJ was “slow in its response to deflation,” Aso said in his inaugural a

Dec. 27, 2012

Obama, Congress in last push on ‘cliff’

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama and members of Congress prepared for one last try to avert across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff, as the U.S. Treasury Department warned Wednesday that it will begin taking action to prevent the government from hitting its debt limit.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter to congressional leaders that the department will use accounting measures to save approximately $200 billion. That could keep the gover

Dec. 27, 2012

Starbucks makes cliff push

NEW YORK (AP) ― Starbucks is using its coffee cups to jump into the political fray in Washington.The world’s biggest coffee chain is asking employees at cafes in the Washington, D.C. area to scribble the words “Come Together” on cups for drink orders on Thursday and Friday. CEO Howard Schultz says the words are intended as a message to lawmakers about the damage being caused by the divisive negotiations over the “fiscal cliff.”It’s the first time employees at Starbucks cafes are being asked to w

Dec. 27, 2012

VW races with GM for China crown

Volkswagen AG will vie with General Motors Co. for the sales crown among foreign automakers in China next year, gaining share as Japanese carmakers led by Toyota Motor Corp. struggle to recover amid a territorial dispute. VW, whose luxury Audi sedans are popular with Chinese bureaucrats, hasn’t held the lead in the country since 2004 and will probably sell 2.7 million vehicles in the country next year to GM’s 2.65 million, helped by eight new or revamped models including the Santana, Golf, Skoda

Dec. 26, 2012

India joins Indonesia in juggling growth, price risks in 2013

Central banks in Indonesia and India, with the worst-performing currencies among Asian emerging markets this year, will face more challenges in 2013 as they balance inflation risks with the need to boost growth. The Reserve Bank of India must deal with “conflicting cues” from elevated prices and an economic slowdown, complicating policy decisions even after it recently signaled there is room to lower interest rates, Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. economist Vishnu Varathan said. Indonesia’s inflation

Dec. 26, 2012