Category: World

SINGAPORE, April 23, 2007 (AFP) – The debate over the million-dollar paychecks of Singapore’s cabinet ministers is “rubbish” because the city-state needs to attract extraordinary people to run it, founding leader Lee Kuan Yew said in remarks published Monday.“The biggest mistake any Singaporean can make is to believe that Singapore is an ordinary country and […]

NEW YORK, April 18, 2007 (AFP) – The struggling dollar faced renewed selling pressure Wednesday as sterling jumped to a 26-year high and the euro topped 1.36 dollars amid fresh concerns about US economic prospects. The euro reached as high as 1.3616 dollars before falling back to 1.3607 at 2100 GMT against 1.3564 late Tuesday […]

NEW YORK, April 17, 2007 (AFP) – Sterling climbed above the psychological barrier of two dollars Tuesday for the first time since 1992 as data on both sides of the Atlantic suggested future rate movements will hurt the greenback. The British currency benefited from higher-than-expected British inflation data which raised expectations of an interest rate […]

WELLINGTON , April 18, 2007 (AFP) – The New Zealand dollar hit its highest level against the US currency for 25 years on Wednesday after inflation data reinforced expectations of further interest rate increases. High interest rates have made the New Zealand currency attractive to foreign investors while weakness in the US dollar has also […]

TOKYO, April 18, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar languished at a near 15-year low against the British pound and a two-year trough versus the euro in Asian trade Wednesday as the market bet on further hikes in European interest rates, dealers said.The pound sterling firmed to 2.0074 dollars in Tokyo morning trade from 2.0063 in […]

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2007 (AFP) – A new biofuel project will mean what’s for dinner may also be what goes in the fuel tank with ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods joining forces to make diesel fuel from animal byproducts. The project announced Monday will produce “the next generation of renewable diesel fuel,” to help supplement petroleum-based […]

NEW YORK, April 16, 2007 (AFP) – US retailer Wal-Mart Stores has dethroned oil giant ExxonMobil from the top position in the Fortune 500 list of America’s biggest companies, the magazine announced Monday. The magazine said Wal-Mart saw an 11.2 percent increase in its 2006 revenues to 351.1 billion dollars, eclipsing the 347.3 billion raked […]

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2007 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund called Saturday for a flexible, non-coercive approach to monitoring exchange rate regimes of member countries after the United States had pressed for stepped-up intervention by the IMF. “Dialogue and persuasion should remain key pillars of effective surveillance,” the IMF’s policy-setting committee said here in a […]

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2007 (AFP) – Global finance chiefs launched a new bid Friday to bridge gaps on economic and currency policy at talks clouded by a growing scandal threatening the tenure of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the […]

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2007 (AFP) – The world’s seven richest nations said Friday a WTO deal to tear down global trade barriers was “imperative,” following a measure of progress achieved by leading players at talks in India. “We believe that a successful conclusion of the Doha Development round is imperative,” Group of Seven finance ministers […]

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2007 (AFP) – IMF policymakers on Saturday are to press on with a campaign to save their 60-year-old body from irrelevance at a time when their sister institution, the World Bank, has been shaken by a pay scandal involving its president, Paul Wolfowitz. The International Monetary Fund’s steering committee, representing the Fund’s […]

HONG KONG, April 12, 2007 (AFP) – World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz personally ordered the hefty pay rise given to his girlfriend at the bank, the Financial Times website reported on Thursday. It cited two people who had seen a memo from Wolfowitz to the head of human resources spelling out the terms of the […]