Category: Other

September 25, 2007 (LBO) — The Indian Ocean Island of Maldives hopes to use its upcoming sovereign rating to help local firms raise cash in international markets, the atoll’s finance minister said. A sovereign or country rating serves as an indication of a nation’s ability to repay its debt and is a key requirement to […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said Sunday the US economy has a better than evens chance of beating a recession but warned that a housing slowdown could hit spending hard. “We’re heading for a slowdown,” he said on NBC in the latest television appearance to publicize his new […]

PARIS, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet said Sunday that France’s public finances were in “very great difficulty” with the worst public spending to output ratio in the European Union. “I would say that French public finances are in very great difficulty,” Trichet said in an interview on Europe 1 […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – Looking for a new home with a bit more space as well as a 1950s Cold War ambiance? A US intercontinental ballistic missile base, equipped with a vast underground network of tunnels and rooms but no atomic warheads, is for sale in a remote corner of the United States. […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – The turmoil stemming from the US subprime property loan market and tighter credit will have a “far-reaching” impact on the world economy, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.“Downside risks have increased significantly and even if those risks fail to materialize, the implications of this period of turbulence will be […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar’s weakness and the euro’s rise to record highs have raised questions about confidence in the US currency following a surprising Federal Reserve half-point rate cut, analysts say. Some are concerned that the dollar’s woes may prompt central banks to cash in their greenbacks, provoking a further downward […]

INDJIJA, Serbia, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – Goran Jesic, a young mayor with a reputation for investment coups, will sign a deal this week with an Indian company to build an IT park here, yet another win for this tiny Serbian town already hailed as an “economic miracle.” Jesic is confident the project for the […]

WUHU, China, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – China’s Chery Auto sales vice president Jin Yibo remembers when the roof in the president’s office had a leak so big that they had to put out buckets to collect the water. “Those were tough times,” said Jin, shaking his head in disbelief as he recalled Chery’s humble […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – Ambitious plans for big Wi-Fi networks to provide free or low-cost wireless Internet access are being abandoned or scaled back by US cities as the economics of the deals turn out to be more challenging than expected. San Francisco and Chicago in recent weeks abruptly halted plans to set […]

NEW YORK, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar sank to a record low against the euro Thursday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned that US mortgage woes may deepen, raising hopes of interest rate cuts. Also weighing on the US currency were rumors that Saudi Arabia is going to drop the domestic currency’s […]