Economists see advantages in breaking up huge banks

Economists see advantages in breaking up huge banks

The idea of breaking up the biggest financial companies in the U.S. into smaller entities, which would have problems that are easier to spot, diagnose and fix, is gaining support from world-famous economists. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said the country has "little to lose, and much to gain, by breaking up these behemoths, which are not just too big to fail but also too big to save

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Ireland publishes "Recession Survival Guide"

Ireland publishes "Recession Survival Guide

After so many years of runaway prosperity, the Irish might have forgotten how to handle hard times. To remind them, the government issued the "Recession Survival Guide" to help people live on reduced income. The government said a few simple steps can save consumers as much as €3,000 a year. Some economists complained that the advice could drive down consumer spending, thereby increasing unemployment

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Bank of Japan expected to slash GDP forecast

Bank of Japan expected to slash GDP forecast

With experts generally agreeing that Japan's economy is contracting at twice the rate anticipated by the Bank of Japan, the central bank is likely to reduce its economic and price forecasts next week, economists said. Policymakers can be expected to take a fairly cautious view of the outlook because "the risk lingers that growth will stumble after being lifted temporarily by fiscal stimulus," said Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at Daiwa SMBC Securities.

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Pakistan Monetary policy April-June 2009

Pakistan Monetary policy April-June 2009


Therefore, SBP has decided to lower the policy discount rate by
100 bps to 14 percent effective 21 April, 2009.

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BABY OF THE YEAR 2009

BABY OF THE YEAR 2009

Congratulations to baby family and it won $ 300 from me.

U.K. recession bottoming out, business group says

U.K. recession bottoming out, business group says

The U.K. is not going to see a recovery until next year, but the nation's economy has hit bottom, with significant further decline unlikely, according to the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI forecast that Britain's GDP will contract by 3.9% this year.

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China wants closer surveillance of major reserve currencies

China wants closer surveillance of major reserve currencies

China sovereign wealth fund plans more investments in Europe

Reforms to the international financial system should include "strengthened surveillance" of the economic policies of nations that issue the most important reserve currencies used in global trade, said Wen Jiabao, China's premier. The U.S. was not mentioned by name, but Chinese officials recently expressed concern about the nation's assets held in U.S. dollars.

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Google’s Sales Growth Slows as Economy Hampers Demand

Google’s Sales Growth Slows as Economy Hampers Demand

Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, reported slower profit and sales growth in the first quarter as the recession discouraged users from clicking on ads. Net income climbed 8.9 percent to $1.42 billion, or $4.49 a share, the company said yesterday. Excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, sales were $4.07 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $4.1 billion in a Bloomberg survey.The slump in advertising spending led to Google’s first sequential drop in quarterly sales since it went public in 2004. The company is now cutting research, marketing and side projects to cope with the economy, which shrank 6.3 percent last quarter.

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Citigroup posts smaller loss; shares surge

Citigroup posts smaller loss; shares surge

Citigroup Inc said on Friday that cost-cutting efforts and improved investment banking and trading results led to a substantially smaller first-quarter loss for shareholders, despite a big increase in credit costs from consumer banking and credit cards.

Citigroup's quarterly loss narrowed to $966 million, or 18 cents per share, from $5.19 billion, or $1.03, a year earlier. According to Reuters Estimates, the loss was 12 cents per share before one-time items. On that basis, analysts had expected a loss of 30 cents per share

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Whistle-blower's tip blew Satyam fraud wide open

Whistle-blower's tip blew Satyam fraud wide open

It was an anonymous e-mail to a board member that forced into the open the accounting fraud that nearly destroyed Satyam Computer Services, according to a 14,000-page report prepared by India's Serious Fraud Investigation Office. Satyam's chairman confessed to the fraud and announced it publicly, but it was a whistle-blower who set off events that gave him no alternative, according to the report.

According to the investigation report, the falsification of the company’s accounts began in the financial year 2001-02 after there was an informal meeting between Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju and Mr Srinivas, apart from the company’s vice-president finance G Ramakrishna. The scope of the falsification of accounts, which was around Rs 234 crore in 2001-02 ballooned to Rs 5,422 crore by 2007-08 and Rs 7,333 crore by end-September 2008, the official said.

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