NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been quoted as saying economic growth was dependent on global security and that governments should be aware of this when cutting defence budgets. Rasmussen said in an interview that pressure on governments to reduce budget deficits would undoubtedly lead to cutbacks in defence spending but urged NATO countries…
The ministry raised the alarm earlier in May that government revenues, mostly from oil sales, were not enough to fund this year’s expansionary spending plans and could force the OPEC member to use all of its windfall oil savings. Remi Babalola, minister of state for finance, told reporters it would propose revisions to the budget’s…
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told future Chinese leaders that the Obama Administration will cut its budget deficit once it is sure the economy is safely growing. In a speech to about 30 middle-aged cadres at the Central Party School, Geithner said Washington is aiming to steadily lower its deficit as a percentage of national…
China struck a conciliatory note at the opening of talks with the US by vowing to spur domestic demand and keeping a guarded opening to exchange rate reform, which the Obama administration says is needed to rebalance the global economy. The US treaded softly on the subject and welcomed Beijing’s long-standing pledge to reform the…
The Bank of Japan has outlined a loan scheme aimed at supporting growth industries and upgraded its assessment of the economy, but said Europe’s debt debacle needed watching for its impact on the global economy. The eurozone’s struggle to limit the fallout from the Greek debt crisis and the yen’s ensuing rise against the euro…
Kenya expects economic growth to accelerate to between four and five percent this year, helped by the likely recovery of the global economy and as favourable weather conditions boost agriculture, its planning minister says. East Africa’s biggest economy expanded by 2.6 percent in 2009, up from a revised 1.6 percent in 2008, the government said,…
ICAP, the world’s biggest interdealer broker, reported a good start to its financial year, helped by active and volatile markets, when posting a better than expected five percent drop in full-year pretax profit. Concerns about Greece and other peripheral European sovereign debt and a 750 million euro rescue package have led to wide swings in…
Japan’s Nikkei average fell 2.2 percent to a 10-week closing low on May 17 as the euro’s tumble to a four-year trough chilled investor sentiment and fanned worries that the eurozone’s fiscal woes could slow global economic growth. Exporters such as Canon Inc were hit as the yen advanced, while trading houses were hurt by…
Donor countries have pledged a record $4.25bn over the next four years for the Global Environment Facility, the world’s largest public green fund that helps developing countries tackle climate change. The commitments by 30 donor countries during a session in Paris is a 52 percent increase in new resources for the facility. GEF Chief Executive…
Annualised inflation in Ghana fell to 11.66 percent in April from 13.32 percent in March, the statistics office has announced, a greater than expected drop that offers hope for further rate cuts later this year. The drop is the 10th consecutive fall, takes inflation to its lowest level since December 2007 and is another step…
