Economic News

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Below is the text of a statement from OPEC to the International Monetary Fund's steering committee meeting in Washington on Saturday: OPEC would like to assure the distinguished delegates to the IMFC of the Organization's ongoing commitment to oil market stability. This has been reflected in recent efforts to help reduce excessive volatility, which have mainly been  ...

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Falling euro zone inflation and stabilising inflation expectations could make room for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Saturday. "Supported by the easing of commodity prices, the presently high inflation is on a downward trend and long-term inflation expectations are st ...

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Falling euro zone inflation and stabilising inflation expectations could make room for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Saturday. "Supported by the easing of commodity prices, the presently high inflation is on a downward trend and long-term inflation expectations are sta ...

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Financial officials from around the world are in Washington this weekend for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank fall meetings. For a wrapup of Saturday's news, see On Friday, top officials from the Group of Seven rich nations, and promised exceptional and urgent steps to deal with the global financial crisis. For a text of their statement see [ID:nTRS00 ...

BUDAPEST, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Hungary's central bank must keep open all options in interest rate decisions as inflation prospects have improved but the forint and government bonds have fallen, Governor Andras Simor was quoted as saying on Saturday. "When the Monetary Council decides on the interest rate, it must consider what interest rate we need to pay for keeping financing to the co ...

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday said the financial crisis will require a global, coordinated response and the top industrial nations will work together to solve it quickly, but cautioned it would not be fixed overnight. "All of us recognize that this is a serious global crisis and therefore requires a serious global response," he told repo ...

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Finance chiefs of the world's rich nations pledged on Friday to prevent big banks from collapse and to work together to stem the financial crisis after another day of gut-wrenching drops on world markets. "The current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action," finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven major industr ...

Philip Scott, This is Money11 October 2008, 5:00am Vote | Quiz | Calculate It is unlikely to muster much sympathy from the public but the ongoing global financial crisis has caused UK bank directors to nurse losses of more than £49m on the shares in the firms they work for so far this year. Hitting the wallet: Barclays Capital boss Bob Diamond has lost £9m on his stake which was worth £16.7m WANT TO KNOW MORE? QUIZ: Stock market crashes POLL: The FTSE has  ...

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - African economies have so far been only indirectly affected by the global financial turmoil but tighter credit markets may impact funding for projects, even profitable ones, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. "The main effects of the global financial turmoil appear to be indirect in the form of slower global growth and volatile commodity pri ...

OTTAWA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Both lenders and borrowers in Canada reported widespread tightening in business credit conditions in the third quarter, two parallel Bank of Canada surveys showed on Friday. Nonetheless, by a substantial margin businesses told the central bank they intended to increase employment and investment in machinery and equipment over the next 12 months. Slig ...