Category: Other
‘s central bank slashes interest rates
SYDNEY, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s central bank slashed interest rates by one percent Tuesday amid fears of a global slowdown sparked by the US-based financial crisis.The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its official cash rate to 6.0 percent, just a month after a 25 basis point cut marked the first downward movement in […]
‘s Lee discounts crisis fears as won plunges
SEOUL, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak called for calm Tuesday as the won plunged, saying the nation does not face a repeat of the 1997/98 financial crisis. “The current crisis facing the nation is wholly different from the foreign exchange crisis of 1997,” he told a cabinet meeting. “Excessive optimism […]
Public Service
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has suspended a controversial new rule that gave the President powers to extend the terms of chosen public officers, but did not reverse any extension already granted, lawyers said. Those designated as public officers were “distinct and separate from political entities, judicial officers,” the plaint said. […]
Wachovia rooting for Wells Fargo buyout despite Citi court block
WASHINGTON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – Troubled lender Wachovia Corp. appeared determined Sunday to plow ahead with a planned union with Wells Fargo & Co., despite an order from a New York State Supreme Court in favor of jilted suitor Citigroup. Citigroup was blindsided last week in its bid to complete a tie-up after Wachovia, […]
Britain mulls buying shares to recapitalise banks: reports
LONDON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – British finance minister Alistair Darling is considering giving banks billions of pounds in return for shares to shore them up in the face of the global credit crunch, media reports said Monday. The plan is a middle way between full nationalisation, as with Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley […]
Gloom engulfs corporate India: survey
NEW DELHI, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – India’s corporate optimism has sunk on worries about the global economy and weakening demand, according to a new survey Monday, as the stock market and rupee fell to fresh lows. Some 57 percent of the 348 firms in the cross-sector survey reported Asia’s third-largest economy had grown “moderately […]
Dubai shrugs off global turmoil with new mega projects
DUBAI, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – A Dubai government firm on Monday announced it will build a “new city” in the booming Gulf emirate at a projected cost of 95 billion dollars, shrugging off the global financial turmoil.The announcement came one day after Dubai developers Nakheel said it planned to build a tower which will […]
Picture postcard Maldives test democracy at the polls
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – The tourist paradise of Maldives will hold its first multi-party poll on Wednesday in what is seen as a litmus test on Asia’s longest serving ruler and his commitment to democratic reforms.Around 209,000 people across some 200 inhabited islands will cast their ballot to elect a president for a five-year […]
Nepal president endorses child goddess
KATHMANDU, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – Nepal’s Maoist president has endorsed the choice of a three-year-old girl to be worshipped as a goddess, officials said Monday, upholding an age-old tradition despite his government’s atheist stance. The selection of the child goddess, or Royal Kumari, had for centuries required the approval of Nepal’s kings, but the […]
”s industrial drive
NEW DELHI, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – A decision by the giant Tata Group to shift a factory building the world’s cheapest car after angry farmer protests has refueled debate about India’s troubled industrialisation push.The company said late last week it was pulling the Nano car project out of West Bengal state, even though the […]
UAE firms start pumping Kurdish gas over Iraq objections
DUBAI, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – United Arab Emirates-based firms Dana Gas PJSC and Crescent Petroleum announced that they had begun producing gas under a deal with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region over Baghdad’s objections. The firms said that, following completion of the project’s first phase, they expected to supply 75 million cubic feet (2.25 million […]
Germany guarantees all private savings accounts: ministry
BERLIN, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – The German government has offered an unlimited guarantee for all private savings accounts, a finance ministry spokesman told AFP Sunday, amid the spreading financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier in a statement to reporters: “We tell all savings account holders that your deposits are safe. The federal […]