Economic News

Mail on Sunday14 January 2007 Budget airlines have provoked anger among passengers by charging up to £40 more for tickets purchased months ago - because of a new tax by Gordon Brown. PLANE AND SIMPLE: Budget airline passengers have been told to pay up or not fly, with carriers saying Gordon Brown is to blame WANT TO KNOW MORE? REPORT: A carbon cop-out? BLOG: BA lost baggage - no surprise there OTHER STORIES Police role 'crash cash' sales Windfall blow for lon ...

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The Bank of Japan will probably maintain its assessment that there is a "long-lasting economic expansion" during an interim review next week of its economic and price outlook report, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. In a report carried on its website at the weekend, the Nikkei, without identifying any sources, said that although the central bank was expected to admi ...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AFX) - General Electric Co., which rode a wave of American prosperity in the last century to become one of the world's largest companies, expects its overseas sales to roughly match its domestic business this year for the first time due to rapid global growth. The milestone by the conglomerate reflects a new reality: The fastest growth is no longer in selling appliances for the  ...

LONDON (AFX) - The dollar is ending another week on a positive note, trading at seven-week highs against the euro and 13-month highs against the yen on the news that US retail sales in the crucial month of December were stronger than anticipated. The Commerce Department reported that US retail sales in December rose by a monthly five-month high of 0.9 pct. That was higher than the 0.7 pct gain ec ...

US retailers saw their sales pick up in December - as shoppers continued spending in the holiday season despite a slowing economy. Commerce Department figures showed takings were 0.9% greater than the same month in 2005 - higher than most analysts were expecting. The size of the December rise - the crucial holiday season for retailers - was the biggest since July. The biggest increase came in electronic shops, with demand too for furniture. Aside from electronics, which rose 3%, motor vehicl ...

LONDON (AFX) - The dollar remained steady near seven-week highs against the euro and 13-month highs against the yen on the news that US retail sales in the crucial month of December were stronger than anticipated. The Commerce Department reported that US retail sales in December rose by a monthly five-month high of 0.9 pct. That was higher than the 0.7 pct gain economists had expected. The dolla ...

WASHINGTON (AFX) - Retail sales rose in December at the strongest pace in five months, indicating that the all-important holiday shopping season turned out better than original reports indicated. The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales increased 0.9 percent last month, the strongest showing since a 1.4 percent increase in July. The increase was better than the 0.7 percent advance t ...

(Adds details, quotes, background) BERLIN (AFX) - Germany had a public deficit equivalent to 1.9 pct of GDP in 2006, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said. "The state has spending under control," Steinbrueck said in a statement detailing the budgetary position of the euro zone's biggest economy at the end of last year. "The excessive deficit has been reduced," Steinbrueck s ...

HOMEOWNERS were dealt a New Year blow today after a shock decision by the Bank of England to raise interest rates for the third time since August. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) increased the cost of borrowing from 5% to 5.25%, making mortgage and loan repayments more expensive for millions in the UK. It was widely thought that rates would stay on hold today, with the markets and som ...

Industrial production in India grew at its fastest annual rate in more than a decade in November, spurred by capital and consumer goods, figures show. India's industrial production, including output from factories and mines, rose 14.4% year-on-year, the Commerce and Industry Minister said. November's rise came as the government revised October's annual growth figure downwards to 4.4% from 6.2%. Analysts say November's figures make an interest rate rise more likely. Rebound Harish Menon, an ...