The Korea Herald

Spain fights recession, deficit

The economy shrank at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent in the third quarter, the same pace as in the previous three months, the Bank of Spain said, citing provisional data.“The Spanish economy continued on a path of contraction which began a year earlier,” it said.If confirmed, the figures would mean that the Spanish recession, which has left one in four workers unemployed, is moving into a second year at a relentless pace. The eurozone’s fourth-largest economy, which emerged from the previous re

Oct. 24, 2012

Ten EU nations get go-ahead on financial transactions tax

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The European Commission on Tuesday agreed a formal first step enabling 10 EU nations to launch a hotly contested Financial Transactions Tax slated to raise billions for the public purse.After a plan to launch the tax across the European Union was scuttled by Britain and others, the EU executive proposed that 10 countries in favour, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, be allowed to go ahead on their own.

Oct. 23, 2012

Moody’s cuts ratings for fives Spanish regions

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Moody’s cut its debt rating for five Spanish regions Monday by one or two notches each, citing their weak financial positions and looming debt redemptions.Extremadura was cut to Ba1 due to a “persistently high” operating deficit and frail liquidity.Andalucia (Ba2), Castilla-La Mancha (Ba3), Catalunya (Ba3) and Murcia (Ba3) were all cited for poor liquidity and large maturing debt obligations.Their downgrade “was driven by the deterioration in their liquidity positions, as evid

Oct. 23, 2012

France, after Germany, backs Ireland on bank debt deal

PARIS (AFP) ― France on Monday boosted hopes for ailing Irish banks to benefit retroactively from a new eurozone bailout fund, by repeating the German position that the crisis-hit country was a “specific case.”The support eased Irish fears that were sparked when German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out a similar proposal for troubled Spanish lenders.But French President Francois Hollande hedged on whether Spain, whose banks have been bogged down with bad loans since a 2008 property crash, shoul

Oct. 23, 2012

France, after Germany, backs Ireland on bank debt deal

Fed expected to keep policy on hold

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Despite signs of revival in the housing sector and a lower jobless rate, a cautious U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to keep its stimulus programs in place at its policy meeting this week.Six weeks after breaking out a new bond-buying program labeled QE3 to shore up the economy, analysts see little reason to expect the Fed’s policy board, the Federal Open Market Committee, to reverse direction in its session on Tuesday and Wednesday.The signs of recovery remain too feeble, and

Oct. 23, 2012

Volkswagen plans to invest $4.4b to expand in Brazil

Volkswagen AG plans to invest 3.4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in upgrading its model lineup and factories in Brazil as part of its goal to become the world's biggest carmaker by 2018."Brazil is very much a cornerstone of our Strategy 2018," Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said yesterday ahead of the Sao Paulo motor show.VW's investment plan in Brazil runs through 2016 and includes spending 126 million euros at its component plant in Sao Carlos to expand production to 4,800 engines a d

Oct. 22, 2012

Germany's Siemens pulls plug on solar ambitions

FRANKFURT (AFP) -- German engineering giant Siemens said on Monday it is pulling the plug on its activities in solar energy owing to cut-throat competition and waning public subsidies.Siemens said it "plans to divest its solar business activities and is currently holding talks with potential buyers on this subject."It would instead focus its renewable energy activities on wind and hydro power, said the group, which previously boasted it plans to become a champion of "green" energy."The energy di

Oct. 22, 2012

U.N. Green Fund could buy credits from carbon market: CEPS

A suggestion by a high-level panel that the United Nations Green Climate Fund buy certain emission credits from the Clean Development Mechanism could help alleviate a supply glut, according to a research group.Using the Green Climate Fund to buy Certified Emission Reductions, for example, "takes eminent sense and is a credible scenario that must be seriously examined," Andrei Marcu, head of the Centre for European Policy Studies' Carbon Market Forum in Brussels, said in an e-mailed report today.

Oct. 22, 2012

Greece says 2011 deficit and public debt worse than thought

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece's national statistics agency revised upwards on Monday the country's 2011 deficit and public debt figures, which will likely further complicate efforts to meet fiscal targets set by international creditors for bailout aid.According to the still provisional data, the 2011 deficit stood at 9.4 percent of gross domestic product and the public debt at 170.6 percent, EL.STAT said."The revisions as regards the debt ratios are primarily due to the update of gross domestic product

Oct. 22, 2012

Asset-backed securities may face tougher Basel bank rules

Banks trading asset-backed securities may face tougher capital requirements and stricter oversight from global supervisors amid concerns that regulation is failing to curb excessive-risk taking.The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is about to embark on a "fundamental" review of how securitization is regulated, Wayne Byres, the group's secretary general, said in an interview last week."Ultimately it's driven at capital treatment, but it's also about reflecting on what have we learned from t

Oct. 22, 2012

German economy could contract in 4th quarter: Bundesbank

FRANKFURT (AFP) -- The German economy, Europe's biggest, will see a sharp slowdown in growth or may even contract at the end of the year as the eurozone crisis bites, the German central bank or Bundesbank warned Monday.Germany has so far held up to Europe's long-running sovereign debt crisis much better than its eurozone neighbours.While many eurozone countries slipped into recession, Germany notched up growth of 0.5 percent in the first quarter and 0.3 percent in the second quarter.However, "th

Oct. 22, 2012

BP, Rosneft agree mega shake-up of Russian energy landscape

LONDON (AFP) - Rosneft gobbled up BP's highly-profitable Russian joint venture, transforming itself into a top player in the global oil sector in a $61 billion (47 billion euro) deal Monday that gives the BP nearly a fifth of the Russian energy giant and ensures access to key Arctic resources.British BP said in a statement that it has agreed to sell its half of Russian venture TNK-BP to Rosneft for $17.1 billion and another 12.84 percent share in the state firm.BP added it would spend $4.8 billi

Oct. 22, 2012

Japan needs more monetary easing, policy stimulus: Maehara

Japanese Economy Minister Seiji Maehara said the country needs more monetary easing and policy efforts to encourage growth as the government prepares for election against an opposition that has stronger public support. The government plans to inject about 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion) into the economy, Maehara said Sunday on a Fuji Television program, without giving details on the source of those funds. Spending this fiscal year includes 910 billion yen of stimulus programs requiring parliament

Oct. 22, 2012

Japan exports fall on global slowdown

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan posted its worst September trade figures in more than 30 years, official data showed Monday, as the global slowdown and a territorial spat with China weighed on the world’s third-largest economy.Tokyo said its monthly trade deficit hit 558.6 billion yen ($7.0 billion), reversing a year-earlier surplus of 288.8 billion yen, data from the finance ministry showed, as overall exports fell 10.3 percent on-year.It was the first deficit for September since 1979, when comparable data

Oct. 22, 2012

Tens of thousands rally in London against austerity

LONDON (AFP) ― Tens of thousands of people marched through London and other British cities on Saturday in protest against spending cuts by Prime Minister David Cameron’s struggling coalition government.Marchers carried signs reading “No cuts” and “Cameron has butchered Britain,” condemning the austerity measures introduced by Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition in a bid to reduce Britain’s huge deficit.Police said the main march was peaceful, but two people were arrested as breakaway anarchist

Oct. 21, 2012

European bank supervisor step closer

BRUSSELS (AP) ― European leaders took a step toward creating a single supervisor for banks in countries that use the euro on Friday but refused to pin down a start date.Although the leaders meeting in Brussels said their decisions on the watchdog ― the single supervisory mechanism ― were key to shoring up lenders and eventually giving them access to loans from Europe’s bailout fund, many observers were struggling to figure out exactly what had been achieved.Rather than finding new measures to fi

Oct. 21, 2012

Google slammed by disappointing earnings

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Google on Thursday reported a sharp drop in third-quarter profits, in disappointing results which sent the Internet giant’s stock price tumbling after an erroneous early release.Net profit was reported at $2.18 billion, down 20 percent from $2.73 billion in the same period a year ago.Google stock slid 8.0 percent to end at $695, taking the company’s market value back down below that of Microsoft, which it overtook earlier this month as the number two player in the tech sector be

Oct. 19, 2012

Violence breaks out at Greek anti-austerity demo

ATHENS (AP) ― Hundreds of youths pelted riot police with fire bombs, bottles and chunks of marble Thursday as yet another Greek anti-austerity demonstration descended into violence, less than a month after more intense clashes broke out during a similar protest.Authorities said around 70,000 protesters took to the street in two separate demonstrations in Athens during the country’s second general strike in a month as workers across the country walked off the job to protest new austerity measures

Oct. 19, 2012

Violence breaks out at Greek anti-austerity demo

Newsweek ends 80-year print run, goes all-digital

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Newsweek announced Thursday it would end an 80-year run as a print magazine, taking the venerable publication all-digital in another sign of the woes of an industry struggling in the Internet age.Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of the online Newsweek Daily Beast Company, said the change means the magazine will “embrace the all-digital future ... We are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it.”Like other U.S. magazines and newspapers, Newsweek has been grapplin

Oct. 19, 2012

EU leaders agree on bank supervisor

BRUSSELS (AP) ― European leaders reached agreement Thursday on creating a single supervisor for banks in the countries that use the euro that will be up and running sometime next year, German diplomats said.The deal reached at a summit of European leaders in Brussels represents a compromise between the Germans and French, who had been tussling over how best shore up the region’s stricken banking system ― one of the main causes of Europe’s debt crisis. In Ireland’s case, the government’s attempts

Oct. 19, 2012