Category: Other
OPEC to keep oil output steady; Venezuela wants higher prices
VIENNA, Jan 31, 2008 (AFP) – OPEC ministers turned down calls for extra output on Thursday, voicing concern that the weak US economy may cause oil prices to drop further from recent historic peaks above 100 dollars. Most members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 percent of world oil, said the […]
Higher Numbers
Jan 31, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation rose by 3.0 percent in January driving 12-month inflation to 20.8 percent on a revised index of consumer prices in Colombo, the government’s statistics office said. Another index of Colombo prices which has a higher weight of food and is based on the consumption pattern of working […]
Bernanke cuts rates to protect financial system
WASHINGTON, Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve has stepped up its campaign to head off recession with another half-point rate cut as part of an aggressive move to avert a downward economic spiral, analysts say.The cut Wednesday in the federal funds rate to 3.0 percent came just eight days after an emergency […]
Shell profits surge to record 31 billion dollars in 2007
LONDON, Jan 31, 2008 (AFP) – Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that net profits leapt 23 percent last year to a record 31.331 billion dollars (21.115 billion euros), energised by soaring crude prices.Net profit on a current cost of supply basis, excluding fluctuations in the value of inventories, rose by 9.0 […]
IMF lowers global growth forecast, citing financial crisis
WASHINGTON, Jan 29, 2008 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lowered its 2008 global growth outlook, citing a US slowdown and financial market turmoil that have put emerging economies at risk. The global economy is poised to grow 4.1 percent this year, down 0.3 percentage points from a previous estimate, the IMF report […]
Coal prices surge to catch up with oil
SYDNEY, Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) – Floods in Australia, freezing weather in China and transport bottlenecks in Indonesia have helped stoke a sharp rise in the price of coal, putting pressure on Asian consumer industries. Soaring demand from China and India as their economies steam ahead has also combined to push the cost of the […]
Singapore ready to bailout another global bank: newspaper
SINGAPORE, Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) – The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), fresh from multi-billion-dollar capital injections into troubled global financial institutions, has the capacity for an additional bailout, a report said Wednesday. “We will look at any deal that is shown to us.We have a duty to do so. We would still have […]
‘s Maluku, tsunami alert sounded
JAKARTA, Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) – A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku on Wednesday, prompting the issuing of a tsunami alert, the meteorology and geophysics office said here.The earthquake, which struck at 4:32 pm (0732 GMT) was centered 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the East Timorese capital Dili, some […]
Death Row
Jan 29, 2008 (LBO) — Two more Sri Lankan have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, media reports said, while Amnesty International said they were convicted without legal representation on ‘confessions’ obtained under duress.Haleema Cadre from Kalmunai, a mother with an 8-year old son, her husband who is an Indian national and K M […]
French rogue trader freed after escaping fraud charges
PARIS, Jan 28, 2008 (AFP) – French judges placed rogue trader Jerome Kerviel under formal investigation on Monday but stopped short of charging him with fraud and decided he could walk free from police custody.Shares in Societe Generale, where Kerviel is alleged to have lost more than seven billion dollars, took a battering as allegations […]
Subprime crisis sends chill through Arctic Circle
OSLO, Jan 29, 2008 (AFP) – Perhaps the most unlikely victims of the US subprime crisis are eight small Norwegian towns currently licking their wounds after seeing tens of millions of dollars in risky investments go up in smoke.A soaring number of defaults on US subprime mortgages, or loans made to people with poor credit […]
Dollar drops against yen with all eyes on Fed
TOKYO, Jan 29, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar slipped against the yen in Asian trade on Tuesday as traders bet on another US interest rate cut this week to try to ward off a US recession, dealers said.The dollar slipped to 106.71 yen in Tokyo midday trade from 106.87 in New York late Monday. But […]