Category
Economy
Bush to outline 'toughest' budget
President Bush is to send his toughest budget proposals to date to the US Congress, seeking large cuts in domestic spending to lower the deficit. Abou…
Germany calls for EU reform
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has called for radical reform of the EU's stability pact to grant countries more flexibility over their budget def…
Italy to get economic action plan
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will unveil plans aimed at kickstarting the country's sputtering economy on Thursday night in Rome. He will p…
EC calls truce in deficit battle
The European Commission (EC) has called a truce in its battle with France and Germany over breaching deficit limits. The move came after France and Ge…
Five million Germans out of work
Germany's unemployment figure rose above the psychologically important level of five million last month. On Wednesday, the German Federal Labour Agenc…
Iran budget seeks state sell-offs
Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, has unveiled a budget designed to expand public spending by 30% but loosen the Islamic republic's dependence on oi…
German jobless rate at new record
More than 5.2 million Germans were out of work in February, new figures show. The figure of 5.216 million people, or 12.6% of the working-age populati…
Palestinian economy in decline
Despite a short-lived increase in Palestinian jobs in 2003, the economy is performing well below its potential, said a World Bank report. Unemployment…
US industrial output growth eases
US industrial production continued to rise in November, albeit at a slower pace than the previous month. The US Federal Reserve said output from facto…
EU 'too slow' on economic reforms
Most EU countries have failed to put in place policies aimed at making Europe the world's most competitive economy by the end of the decade, a report …
Further rise in UK jobless total
The UK's jobless total rose for the second month in a row in December, official figures show. The number of people out of work rose 32,000 to 1.41 mil…
Iraqi voters turn to economic issues
Beyond the desperate security situation in Iraq lies an economy in tatters. A vicious cycle of unemployment, poor social services and poverty has been…
Christmas shoppers flock to tills
Shops all over the UK reported strong sales on the last Saturday before Christmas with some claiming record-breaking numbers of festive shoppers. A sp…
Mixed Christmas for US retailers
US retailers posted mixed results for December - with luxury retailers faring well while many others were forced to slash prices to lift sales. Upscal…
Rich grab half Colombia poor fund
Half of the money put aside by the Colombian government to help the country's poor is benefiting people who do not need it, a study has found. A total…
Cars pull down US retail figures
US retail sales fell 0.3% in January, the biggest monthly decline since last August, driven down by a heavy fall in car sales. The 3.3% fall in car sa…
House prices suffer festive fall
UK house prices fell 0.7% in December, according to figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Nationally, house prices rose at an annual r…
US manufacturing expands
US industrial production increased in December, according to the latest survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). Its index of national m…
Alfa Romeos 'to get GM engines'
Fiat is to stop making six-cylinder petrol engines for its sporty Alfa Romeo subsidiary, unions at the Italian carmaker have said. The unions claim Fi…
BMW cash to fuel Mini production
Less than four years after the new Mini was launched, German car maker BMW has announced £100m of new investment. Some 200 new jobs are to be created …
Call to save manufacturing jobs
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling on the government to stem job losses in manufacturing firms by reviewing the help it gives companies. The T…
Crossrail link 'to get go-ahead'
The £10bn Crossrail transport plan, backed by business groups, is to get the go-ahead this month, according to The Mail on Sunday. It says the UK Trea…
IMF agrees fresh Turkey funding
Turkey has agreed a draft proposal with the International Monetary Fund to borrow $10bn (£5.19bn), extending its ongoing financial support until 2007.…
Ukraine revisits state sell-offs
Ukraine is preparing what could be a wholesale review of the privatisation of thousands of businesses by the previous administration. The new Presiden…
Ukraine steel sell-off 'illegal'
The controversial sell-off of a Ukrainian steel mill to a relative of the former president was illegal, a court has ruled. The mill, Krivorizhstal, wa…
Georgia plans hidden asset pardon
Georgia is offering a one-off 'tax amnesty' to people who hid their earnings under the regime of former president Eduard Shevardnadze. The country's n…
Germany nears 1990 jobless level
German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month in December - making the year's average jobless total the highest since reunification. The sea…
Pension hitch for long-living men
Male life expectancy is much higher than originally estimated, leading pension researchers have said. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) said life ex…
Golden rule boost for Chancellor
Chancellor Gordon Brown has been given a £2.1bn boost in his attempts to meet his golden economic rule, which allows him to borrow only for investment…
Venezuela reviews foreign deals
Venezuela is to review all foreign investment in its mining industries in an effort to strengthen its indigenous industrial output. President Hugo Cha…
Cash gives way to flexible friend
Spending on credit and debit cards has overtaken cash spending in the UK for the first time. The moment that plastic finally toppled cash happened at …
Brazil jobless rate hits new low
Brazil's unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in three years in December, according to the government. The Brazilian Institute for Geography and…