Irish unveil harshest cuts, tax hikes in history

Ireland’s Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan (L), listens as Prime Minister Brian Cowen speaks during a press conference to announce the National Recovery Plan, in Dublin, on November 24, 2010. Ireland kept its prized low corporation tax on Wednesday, but outlined plans to overhaul income and sales levies, as the debt-laden eurozone nation braced for a multi-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen presented a series of tax rises and cuts to public sector pay, pensions and social welfare in a bid to slash a huge deficit and save 15 billion euros (20 billion dollars) by 2014. – AFP Photo

DUBLIN: Ireland has unveiled the harshest budget measures in its history, a four-year plan to slash deficits by euro15 billion ($20 billion) so it can receive a massive bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

The austerity plan axes thousands of state jobs, trims welfare benefits and pensions, and imposes new taxes on property and water. In all, it seeks to cut euro10 billion ($13.3 billion) from spending and raise euro5 billion ($6.7 billion) in extra taxes from 2011 to 2014.

Oil over 82 dollars after EU, IMF agree Irish bailout

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, gained 71 cents to 82.69 dollars per barrel. — File Photo

SINGAPORE: Oil prices topped 82 dollars in Asian trade Monday as the euro’s value soared following the agreement of a massive bailout for financially strapped Ireland, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, gained 71 cents to 82.69 dollars per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for January rose 77 cents to 85.11 dollars. Oil prices followed the euro up as the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) late Sunday agreed to bail out debt-ridden Ireland to the tune of between 80 and 90 billion euros.

US to provide $60m for dams

ISLAMABAD: The United States has agreed to finance the under-construction Gomal Zam Dam and Satpara Dam and also pledged to encourage its private sector for investment in the energy sector of Pakistan, an official said in a statement on Tuesday.

Federal Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that Pakistan would spend money from its own resources on the construction of both the dams (Gomal and Satpara) and the United States would reimburse $40 million and $20 million, respectively, for these two projects.

China, US closer to G20 deal on trade imbalances: report

South Korean special police officers guard near the symbol of G20 at Gimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 25, 2010. – AP Photo

BEIJING: China and the United States have reached the basis for an agreement at next month’s Group of 20 summit on setting targets to rein in global trade imbalances, a report said Wednesday.

The Financial Times quoted Li Daokui, an adviser to China’s central bank, saying G20 finance chiefs had made “good progress” towards a deal at their meeting in South Korea at the weekend.

“I was very encouraged by the G20 meeting,” Li told the newspaper in an interview. “It is now possible for the two governments (the US and China) and other governments to have a good understanding.”In a statement the G20 finance ministers agreed to “refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies” and aim for “more market-determined exchange rate systems”.

Group of 20 vows to avoid currency devaluations

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, center, speaks as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, left, and Belgium’s Finance Minister Didier Reynders listen at their press conference following the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting at a hotel in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010. – AP Photo

GYEONGJU: The world’s leading advanced and emerging countries vowed Saturday to avoid potentially debilitating currency devaluations, aiming to quell trade tensions that could threaten the global recovery.

The Group of 20 also said it will pursue policies to reduce trade and current account imbalances that threaten the economic recovery, and agreed to give developing nations more say at the International Monetary Fund, part of what it described as an ambitious set of proposals to reform IMF governance.

US stocks pull back

NEW YORK: Stocks fell on Wednesday after concerns grew about Greece’s debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrials remained just below 11,000 for the third consecutive day. The Dow hasn’t crossed that level in 18 months.

No major economic reports were due out Wednesday, but investors were awaiting the results due in the early afternoon from an auction of 10-year Treasury notes. European markets were lower on concerns about Greece.

Malaysia may issue US dollar Islamic bond

SINGAPORE: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday that Malaysia will likely tap global bond markets by offering a US dollar Islamic bond to test investor appetite for its assets.

US, India launch high-level economic partnership

NEW DELHI: The United States and India formally launched high level economic partnership talks on Tuesday, aimed at boosting commercial ties that are often eclipsed by US trade with China.

The partnership was launched by visiting US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee hailed the project as “a milestone” that would add a “new dimension” to ties between the world’s largest and fourth largest economies.

US jobless claims fall, March manufacturing increases

WASHINGTON: The number of US workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell last week and factory activity in March hit its highest level in more than 5-1/2 years, pointing to a continued expansion in the economy.

The data on Thursday came a day before the release of the government’s closely watched employment report for March, which is expected to show nonfarm payrolls grew only for the second time since the recession started in December 2007.

The labour market has lagged the manufacturing-led economic recovery from the worst downturn since the 1930s.

Fund to help Americans invest in Pakistan: US official

LAHORE: The US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert O Blake, has said the United States was considering establishing an investment fund for American businessmen to facilitate them in investing in Pakistan.

Addressing the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday, Robert O Blake said the United States was about to begin work on Bilateral Investment Treaty. “There is considerable effort being undertaken now in Washington, so it is expected that the Bilateral Investment Treaty would be ready soon after which bilateral negotiations with Pakistan would start”.

US fourth quarter growth revised down to 5.6pc

WASHINGTON: The US economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the final quarter of 2009 as consumer and business spending slackened amid a fragile recovery from recession, the government said Friday.

The world’s largest economy grew by 5.6 per cent in the October-December period, the Commerce Department said, revising downward an earlier estimate of 5.9 per cent growth in gross domestic product, a key economic benchmark.

41 banks fail in America this year

WASHINGTON: Four small banks across the United States were seized by regulators, ticking up the year bank failure tally to 41.

The continued parade of bank collapses comes as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is pulling back on loss-share agreements designed to lure bidders into taking on the assets of troubled banks.

US shed 85,000 jobs in December, dampening optimism

Saturday, January 09, 2010
WASHINGTON: The US economy lost 85,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate held at 10.0 per cent, the government said on Friday in a report dashing hopes of a turnaround in the ailing labour market.

The Labour Department report on non-farm payrolls was a disappointment to those hoping for growth in jobs, which is critical to recovery from recession. The figure was far worse than the consensus expectation for no change in overall employment levels, and came amid a wide array of predictions ranging from steep losses to modest gains.

US not willing to sign FTA: adviser

Friday, January 08, 2010
By our correspondent

LAHORE: The United States is not willing to sign a free trade agreement with Pakistan and the country will have to content itself with facilities to be granted under the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Textile Mirza Ikhtiar Baig stated this while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.

US business loan defaults rise again

Tuesday, January 05, 2010
CHICAGO: Severe delinquencies by small and medium-sized US businesses on the loans, leases and lines of credit to finance capital equipment rose again in November as lenders remained reluctant to extend fresh financing, PayNet Inc reported on Monday.

$2bn US investment in farm sector likely

ISLAMABAD: The United States will make an investment of $2 billion in the agriculture sector of Pakistan over a period of five years (2010-2014) to address impending water crisis to help the country improve profitability of agricultural markets. 
 
The country’s agricultural sector which affects the livelihood of 60 per cent of the population uses 90 per cent of Pakistan’s water, according to the ‘Pakistan Assistance Strategy Report’ of the State Department.
In an analysis, the report says the management of the Indus Basin Irrigation System, which sustains the agricultural sector, is reliant on water flows from diminishing Himalayan glaciers and is so inefficient that half the water is lost to seepage.

Wall St likely to end 2009 with a flourish

Sunday, December 27, 2009
NEW YORK: Wall Street is likely to make a strong showing in the final week of 2009 as the bulls gear up to toast the first annual advance for US stocks in two years on hopes of more economic stability in 2010. The US stock market’s resiliency since the March bottom has put investors in the mood to celebrate.

Fannie and Freddie CEOs to get up to $6m in pay

Friday, December 25, 2009
NEW YORK: The two chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could get paid as much as $6 million for 2009, despite the companies’ dismal performances this year which cost taxpayers more than $100 billion.

Fannie’s CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Charles “Ed” Haldeman Jr each will receive $900,000 in salary, $3.1 million in deferred payments next year and another $2 million if they meet certain performance goals, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

Obama ‘dissatisfied’ with jobless rate

Friday, December 25, 2009
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he is “entirely dissatisfied” with the level of US unemployment and cannot congratulate himself on his first year in office between the jobless rate is so high.

“I am entirely dissatisfied with where we are right now in terms of jobs, and the fact that families out there on the eve of Christmas are still really worried,” Obama said in an interview with public television station PBS. “And so I don’t pat myself on the back at the end of this year,” the US leader said after 11 months in office.

US banks with political ties got bailouts

Wednesday, December 23, 2009
NEW YORK: US banks that spent more money on lobbying were more likely to get government bailout money, according to a study released on Monday.

Banks whose executives served on Federal Reserve boards were more likely to receive government bailout funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to the study from Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura, professors at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.