Business and Finance news

The U.S. government’s $1 billion “cash for clunkers” program to spur new car sales ran through the money six days after it began, Senator Debbie Stabenow said.
Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, and other lawmakers called for an infusion of taxpayer money to subsidize more new-vehicle purchases in the effort to revive dealerships and automakers […]

Norway’s central bank may be the first among the world’s richest economies to raise interest rates as the global crisis shows signs of abating and inflation overshoots the bank’s target, Deutsche Bank AG said.
“Domestic inflation pressures will be the main reason why Norges Bank will have to be one of the first, if […]

New Zealand central bank Governor Alan Bollard may keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second month as a recovery in the housing market and business confidence signals an end to the recession.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will leave the official cash rate at a record-low 2.5 percent at 9 a.m. […]

Spain needs the rest of Europe to recover and pull the nation out of the recession as officials try to retool an economy reeling from the worst slump since World War II, Deputy Finance Minister Jose Manuel Campa said.
“This is the crisis of my generation, this is going to identify us as a […]

Confidence among U.S. consumers probably fell in July for the first time in five months as mounting unemployment and depressed wages shook households, analysts said before a private report today.
The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment dropped to 65, the lowest level since March, from 70.8 in June, according to the […]

Japanese demand for banks loans fell over the past three months as companies turned to an improving credit market for funding and households cut spending amid the worst recession since World War II.
An index of demand for loans by businesses declined to minus 14 in July from 13 in April, the Bank of […]

The Philippine central bank, which has cut its benchmark interest rate six times in the past seven months, said it’s on a “cautious easing bias” as it awaits clearer signs of an economic recovery.
“The inflation outlook continues to be benign while inflation expectations remain well-anchored,” Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a mobile-phone […]

Six U.S. states posted record unemployment rates in June, while Michigan became the first to top 15 percent in a quarter century, threatening to deepen budget crises in capitals across the nation.
The total number of states with at least 10 percent joblessness rose to 15, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. Georgia, […]

The worst U.S. recession in at least five decades may be over at year’s end, said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economist who predicted the financial crisis.
“We might be at the bottom or close to the bottom,” Roubini said in a speech today at a Chilean investors’ conference in New York. “In […]

New Zealand’s inflation rate slowed to the lowest level in seven quarters as a recession curbed consumer demand, prompting companies to cut prices.
Consumer prices rose 1.9 percent in the year ended June 30, Statistics New Zealand said in Wellington today. Inflation slowed from 3 percent in the year to March and was higher […]