The moment is around the corner when Saudi Arabia will face a massive budget deficit, an American political scientist said. “Saudi Arabia is running large budget deficits of 15 to 20 percent of GDP, and is drawing down on its currency reserves,” American political science professor James D. Savage told Iran’s Tasnim news agency. He added that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates... 

Australia’s national carrier Qantas has posted an annual net loss of 2.6 billion dollars last year. The airliner on Thursday posted the full-year net loss of 2.64 billion US dollars in 2013-2014 in its worst performance. The figure is much worse than expectations as analysts initially predicted the company to report an underlying pre-tax loss of about 700 million dollars. Qantas’s international... 

For the first time in five years Standard & Poor’s has cut Russia’s credit rating to ‘BBB-‘, just above junk status. It warns the tension in Ukraine and ‘significant’ capital outflow could mean another downgrade. Moscow says it is “politically motivated.” “In our view, the tense geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine could see additional... 

Standard & Poor’s says the shutdown in total cost the US economy $24 billion, or $1.5 billion per day, the rating agency said Wednesday. The agency also estimated the shutdown will pare fourth quarter GDP by 0.6 percent. Obama has signed legislation that will avoid a technical debt default, ending the 16-day partial shutdown of the government that has cost the world’s largest economy... 

Chinese consumers’ spending has surged in recent years Even with the ongoing slowdown of China’s economic growth, the world’s No 2 economy is expected to overtake the US to become the world’s largest consumer market in the next five years, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The report – entitled Financial Risks Are Rising as Retail and... 

Jobseekers wait in line at a French job center in Paris The number of jobless people in France has climbed towards a record high in February for the 22nd month running, and has reached its highest level since 1997. Data released from the French Labor Ministry showed on Tuesday that the number of registered jobseekers in the eurozone’s second-largest economy rose by 18,400 from January to 3.188... 

US President Barack Obama US stock markets opened drastically lower on Wednesday following the reelection of President Barack Obama over fears of the looming fiscal cliff. The US stock market indices fell on opening bell with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1.84 percent to 13,002.50, the S&P 500 tumbling 1.88 percent to 1,401.59, and NASDAQ plunging 1.93 percent to 2,953.87. This comes... 

Panasonic Corp., Japan’s second largest TV maker, saw its credit rating cut by two levels by Standard & Poor’s after it forecast a $9.5 bn loss 30 times bigger than analyst estimates. ­S&P said it has downgraded long-term debt to BBB, down from A-, as “huge losses for the second year in a row weaken the company’s financial profile and could further slow its recovery in the next... 

A new agency is about to appear in the rating business that will be created by the Russians, Chinese and Americans. The agency Universal Credit Rating Group that claims to be a global player, came into being in Beijing and is the joint brainchild of the Chinese rating agency Dagong Global, the American Egan-Jones, and Russian RusRating. Earlier, AFP reported that the Chinese rating agency Dagong planned... 

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services has downgraded the credit ratings for three French banks, including BNP Paribas, citing growing risks facing the banks from potential prolongation of the eurozone recession. “In our view, the economic risks, under which French banks operate, are increasing, leaving French banks moderately more exposed to the potential of a more protracted... 

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Spain’s credit rating by two notches, warning that the deepening economic recession is limiting the government’s options. S&P warned that rising unemployment and harsh austerity measures are likely to intensify social unrest and cause further friction between Spain’s central and regional governments. “The downgrade... 

Standard & Poor's has downgraded the credit ratings of several European nations. Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the credit ratings of France, Italy, and Spain, as the European debt crisis continues to intensify. According to French government sources, the ratings agency has downgraded the country’s Triple-A credit rating, while downgrading Italy and Spain’s ratings as... 

Standard and Poor's dropped Italy's credit rating from A+ to A. Standard & Poor’s drops credit rating to A from A+, blaming sluggish economy and ineffective government reforms. Italy has had its sovereign credit rating cut by Standard and Poor’s, with the ratings agency keeping the country’s outlook on negative in a surprise move that may add to contagion fears in the...