China’s money-market cash squeeze is likely to reduce credit growth this year by 750 billion yuan ($122 billion), an amount equivalent to the size of Vietnam’s economy, according to a Bloomberg News survey. The number is the median estimate of 15 analysts, whose projections last week ranged from cuts of 20 billion yuan to 3 trillion yuan. The majority of respondents also said they approve of the government’s handling of the credit crunch and said the episode reinforces their expectations for pol

Carlos Ghosn, Chief Executive Officer of Renault SA, Europe’s third-biggest carmaker, predicted that the European car market will probably shrink further in 2014 and 2015 as rising unemployment continues to sap consumer demand. “I think that 2014, 2015 are going to be at best stable in Europe,” Ghosn, who also runs Yokohama-based Nissan Motor Co. ― 43 percent-owned by Renault ― said in an interview today in Aix-en-Provence, southern France. “More realistically, we may see another decrease, maybe

Federal Reserve likely to curb quantitative easing stimulus program soon

ROME (AP) ― The International Monetary Fund pressed Italy on Thursday to do more about “unacceptably high” unemployment, especially among young people and women, and urged it to bring back an unpopular property tax whose return could threaten the survival of Premier Enrico Letta’s coalition government. Former premier Silvio Berlusconi made suspension of the tax on primary residences a condition of his conservative forces vital support for Letta’s government. Letta reluctantly agreed to let prope

European Central Bank holds key rate at record low of 0.5 percent

BlackBerry’s chances of becoming a viable contender to Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in the smartphone market are dimming amid lackluster demand for its flagship touch-screen device. Corporate information-technology departments have long wanted a third alternative to Apple’s iPhones and devices based on Google’s Android operating system, to ensure innovation and price competition. Yet many businesses are dropping support for BlackBerry as employees flock to touch-screen devices from Apple, Samsung

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Yahoo forged ahead Wednesday on its months-long takeover binge with word that it had bought Xobni, a startup behind tools for better managing contact lists and email inboxes.Yahoo did not disclose how much it paid for Xobni ― which is ‘inbox’ spelled backwards ― but said it planned to use the startup’s technology to improve Yahoo! Mail, Messenger and other “communications offerings.”San Francisco-based Xobni was launched in 2006, and two years later the venture-backed firm

Germany hosts EU conference to tackle bloc’s youth unemployment crisis