Home » Economy
Euro falls against dollar in Asian session
Euro fell against the dollar in the Asian session to erase gains made yesterday. Risk was off again after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke disappointed. He refrained from signalling immediate steps the U.S. central bank might take to spur growth in the world’s largest economy.
Before Bernanke’s comments , market sentiment was high yesterday as the central bank of China...
25% of Spain's population lives below poverty line
A Euro coin with the Spanish national flag in the background.
A recent report released by a Spanish institution says 25 percent of Spain’s population lives below poverty line, 2 percent higher than last year, as the country grapples with the highest rate of impoverishment among European states.
According to an annual report issued by the Spanish Economic and Social Council (CES), lack of jobs for...
Argentina takes over YPF from Spanish shareholder
A flag reading "Fight and Comeback" with the logo of the Argentine oil company YPF is seen at the front of the presidential palace Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, April 12, 2012.
The Argentinean government has seized the country’s biggest oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF), ousting the Spanish controlling shareholder, Repsol.
In the first shareholder meeting since the takeover,...
Credit markets close doors to Spain as banking crisis grows
Spain’s Minister of Finance and Public Administrations Cristobal Montoro
The Greek stock market has plummeted 5.9 percent after Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency warned that the country has a one-in-three chance of leaving the eurozone.
The minister made the remarks on Tuesday, admitting that Spain’s high borrowing costs have shut out bond markets at a time when the country seeks...
US role to fade with China calling shots as creditor
China has accumulated enough financial resources to induce borrowers US and EU to share power, argues Arvind Subramanian, senior fellow jointly at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Center for Global Development.
In an exclusive interview to RT the author of Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance explained how disputable currency policies from creditor...
Greek euro exit on agenda if bailout deal violated: France
French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici pictured on May 21, 2012at a press conference in Berlin, Germany
French Finance Minister has warned that Greece’s exit from the eurozone will be on the agenda if Greek authorities do not respect the bailout deal after parliamentary elections in mid-June.
“The question would be raised without a doubt…. if the Greeks themselves do not respect their...
Portuguese bank demands 1.3bn euros in state aid amid crisis
Logo of the Portuguese bank BPI
The Portuguese bank BPI has reportedly asked for 1.3 billion euros in public aid to comply with the principles laid out by the European Banking Authority, as the financial crisis in the eurozone seems to be deepening.
Banco BPI, which is Portugal’s third largest listed bank, said on Monday that it would also raise 200 million euros from private investors.
The news...
The Global Anti Elite Revolution
Revolution is in the air – Globally. At least the first wave of revolutionary fervour has struck the world. Commencing from unlikely Tunisia, spreading through dormant Egypt, toppling the Libyan strongman, the North African – Arabian Peninsula rejoiced in the Arab Spring. Yet the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and western world change seekers are even more dramatic. Striking at the heart of...
EU-skeptic Ireland votes on austerity
Ireland is voting in a referendum on an EU austerity pact. If Dublin does not accept tough budget deficit obligations, it would be a kiss goodbye to EU rescue money, which could be followed by default and a eurozone exit.
The mooted European Fiscal Pact was initiated by Germany and France. If approved, it would oblige Dublin to strictly control its budget deficit, which reached 13.1 per cent last...
EU places Spain on top of list of Europe critical economies
A euro coin with the Spanish national flag in the background.
The European Commission says Spain is on top of the list of the eurozone 12 critical economies as new reports show investors flee Spain amid the deepening financial crisis.
Affected by Greece’s economic woes, the Commission on Wednesday listed Spain and Cyprus as two European states in “very serious” trouble.
“Spain faces...
Half of the US live in households that receive government benefits
Almost half of all Americans live in a household where at least one member received government benefits in the first quarter of 2011, according to a new report.
Data from the Census Bureau revealed that 49.1 per cent of the population live in a household which gets at least one kind of government benefit with many likely to receive more than one.
The figure marks a steep rise in the amount of people...
US poverty rate for women and children hits 17-year record high
A poor American child asking for help.
The US Census Bureau’s annual report reveals that the poverty rate among American woman and children reached a 17-year record high in 2010, standing at 14.5 percent.
The new report indicates that, women’s poverty rate in the United States stands at 14.5 percent which means that over 17 million people live in poverty.
According to the report, a minimum number...
UK braces for immigration boom if euro collapses
Britain’s Home Office is drawing up contingency plans to restrict the number of economic migrants from Greece and other European Union nations in case the euro collapses.
EU rules allow citizens to work anywhere in any country in the single market, including the UK, with the exception of new members Romania and Bulgaria. People looking for work abroad may see Britain as an attractive option as...
Overseas workers take thousands of mining jobs in Australia
The federal government has unveiled an historic agreement with mining magnate Gina Rinehart to import overseas workers to fill jobs in her iron ore project in Western Australia.
The enterprise migration agreement (EMA) will be first used at the mining magnate’s $6.5 billion Roy Hill project, allowing Hancock Prospecting to bring in 1700 migrant workers on a temporary basis.
Union leaders today...
Around 13,000 Greek people are homeless in Athens
A homeless man prepares to sleep on the floor of a sports center in Athens on January 30, 2012.
A new report says around 13,000 Greek people are homeless in the capital Athens and the number of the poor in the recession-hit country is on the rise.
The report by the charity organization, Praksis, which was published on Thursday says in the Greek capital of over four million, around 11,500 Greeks are...