Business and Finance news

Federal Reserve officials, who see possible signs of “stabilization” in the U.S. economy, signaled they’re not convinced those improvements will persist.
Policy makers, meeting April 28-29 in Washington, saw “significant downside risks” to the outlook for the economy, with the global financial system still “vulnerable to further shocks,” minutes of the session released yesterday […]

Hungarian Finance Minister Peter Oszko said the government will consider selling foreign-currency denominated bonds this year to take advantage of rising investor confidence in the first European Union nation to get a bailout.
The country is testing the market with forint-denominated offerings and expects that its spending cuts, endorsed by the International Monetary Fund, […]

Former Bundesbank president Hans Tietmeyer said the European Central Bank may have breached the Maastricht Treaty by granting the European Investment Bank access to its refinancing operations.
The move “in my view is not in line with the treaty,” Tietmeyer said at an event at the Bank of Finland in Helsinki today. “According to […]

Russia’s economy shrank an annual 9.5 percent in the first quarter, the worst contraction in 15 years, as industrial production slumped and the government’s 3 trillion ruble ($93.5 billion) stimulus package failed to boost lending.
Gross domestic product shrank 23 percent from the previous quarter, the Federal Statistics Service said on its Web site […]

Orders for Japanese machinery resumed falling in March, a sign that managers remain wary of upgrading factories and equipment before an economic recovery takes hold.
Bookings, an indicator of capital investment in the next three to six months, fell 1.3 percent from February, when they gained a revised 0.6 percent, the Cabinet Office said […]

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, saying nine U.S. banks were “central to any solution” of the credit crisis, told their leaders to take government aid or be forced to by regulators, according to a memo prepared for an October meeting.
“If a capital infusion is not appealing, you should be aware that your regulator […]

New Zealand’s banks should increase provisioning against bad and doubtful debts as the worst recession in more than three decades curbs profits and drives up unemployment, the central bank said.
“There are clear signs of financial strain emerging in large parts of the business sector,” Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said in his six-monthly […]

New Zealand consumer spending on debit, credit and store cards rose for a third month in April, adding to signs that record-low interest rates and income-tax cuts are slowing a slump in retail sales.
The value of transactions on electronic cards at retailers increased 0.3 percent from March, when they rose a revised 0.4 […]

U.K. producer prices jumped the most in 10 months in April after the government raised taxes and costs of petroleum products and motor vehicles increased.
The price of goods at factory gates rose 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent gain the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The […]

German manufacturing orders unexpectedly increased for the first time in seven months in March, adding to signs that the deepest economic slump since World War II may be bottoming out.
Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, rose 3.3 percent from February, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists expected a 1 percent […]