The Korea Herald

Japan’s trade deficit widens 37.9% in Nov.

Dec 19, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s trade deficit in November expanded 37.9 percent on-year to $11.3 billion, a record for the month, official data showed Wednesday, in a worrying sign for the world’s third-largest economy.The trade shortfall came to 953.4 billion yen, marking the fifth straight month of deficit and a widening from a year-earlier deficit of 691.2 billion yen.Overall, exports fell 4.1 percent while imports edged up 0.8 percent.Shipments to key trader partner China tumbled 14.5 percent, marking
Toyota fined $17.4 million for not reporting flaws

Dec 19, 2012

Toyota Motor Corp., the company that has paid the most in fines to the U.S. auto-safety regulator, agreed to pay a $17.4 million civil penalty for delaying reports of a vehicle defect. The new fine stems from a June recall for Lexus RX 350s and RX 450h vehicles where the accelerator pedal could catch on the driver’s side floor mat, causing it to stick and accelerate when the driver didn’t intend to. It’s Toyota’s second penalty since 2010 for delayed reporting of defects. “It’s critical to the s
World Bank sets $900m aid program for Iraq

Dec 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The World Bank announced Tuesday a $900 million support plan for Iraq aimed at helping the war-ravaged country better manage its human and vast oil resources.The World Bank’s four-year support for Iraq, through 2016, will focus on job creation, social inclusion and building stronger institutions, the institution said. The announcement came exactly one year after the last U.S. troops left Iraq, ending the nearly nine-year war that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime and lef
East Asian growth to pick up in 2013

Dec 19, 2012

World Bank ups region’s outlook, sees China growing 8.4 percent
Cliff talks hit a lull with Boehner’s ‘Plan B’

Dec 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Just two weeks from an economy-threatening deadline, fiscal cliff talks hit a lull Tuesday as House Speaker John Boehner announced that Republicans would also march ahead with their own tax plan on a separate track from the one he’s been pursuing with President Barack Obama. The White House and leading congressional Democrats immediately rejected Boehner’s “Plan B,” which would extend soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts for everyone making less than $1 million but would not addres
IIF warns of large risks to Greek bailout

Dec 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The powerful international bank lobby IIF warned Tuesday that Greece’s newly revamped bailout program still faces large risks as long as the economy continues to contract sharply.“With real GDP likely to decline another 4-5 percent next year after falling 6 percent this year, and further austerity testing social cohesion, risks to the EU-IMF program will remain substantial,” the Institute of International Finance said.“Doubts about debt sustainability will persist until growth
S&P boosts Greece’s credit rating

Dec 19, 2012

Ratings agency raises Greece’s credit rating by 6 notches, citing EU actions on crisis
Democrats dismiss Boehner's 'Plan B' in fiscal cliff talks

Dec 19, 2012

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner unveiled his "Plan B" on Tuesday as Republican lawmakers wrangled with Democratic President Barack Obama over how to steer the economy past the so-called fiscal cliff.Boehner, whose party holds a majority in the lower house, said he was now prepared to countenance a tax rise for Americans earning more than $1 million per year, a concession but one that falls short of Obama's demands.The president wants to raise taxes on those earning more than $400,000, and Boehne
U.S. current account deficit fell in third quarter

Dec 19, 2012

The U.S. current account trade deficit narrowed in the July-September quarter to the smallest level since late 2010, but the improvement may not last.The deficit fell to $107.5 billion in the third quarter, down 9 percent from the second quarter imbalance of $118.1 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the lowest trade gap since the final three months of 2010.The current account is the broadest measure of trade. It tracks the sale of merchandise and services between nations a
Japan's November trade deficit widens 37.9% on-year

Dec 19, 2012

Japan's trade deficit in November expanded 37.9 percent on-year to $11.3 billion, a record for the month, official data showed Wednesday, in a worrying sign for the world's third-largest economy.The trade shortfall came to 953.4 billion yen, marking the fifth straight month of deficit and a widening from a year-earlier deficit of 691.2 billion yen.Overall, exports fell 4.1 percent while imports edged up 0.8 percent.Shipments to key trader partner China tumbled 14.5 percent, marking another month
S&P lifts Greece from selective default rating

Dec 19, 2012

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's raised Greece's sovereign debt rating by six notches on Tuesday encouraged by a burst of support for Athens from eurozone partners.The upgrade from selective default to B-/B "reflects our view of the strong determination of European Economic and Monetary Union (eurozone) member states to preserve Greek membership in the eurozone," an S&P statement said.The outlook for Greek public debt was stable because of the government's commitment to fiscal and structural a
Santander absorbs two Spanish banks

Dec 18, 2012

MADRID (AFP) ― Banking giant Santander said on Monday that it will absorb two of its Spanish offshoots, closing 700 branches in the latest stage of Spain’s great banking shake-up.Santander, the biggest bank in the eurozone by market value, said it could save 520 million euros ($680 million) a year by absorbing the offshoots, Banesto and Banif.They will be merged into the Santander brand, which would have 4,000 branches under the same name in Spain.“This transaction is part of the restructuring o
Bank supervisor will restore trust: ECB

Dec 18, 2012

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Monday that the creation of an EU-wide banking supervisory authority would help restore confidence in crisis-wracked eurozone.The so-called Single Supervisory Mechanism or SSM “will contribute to restoring confidence in the banking sector across the euro area,” Draghi told the European Parliament’s committee for economic and monetary affairs in a regular hearing.Draghi said the agreement last week by EU leaders at their final sum
Obama concedes on living cost, tax

Dec 18, 2012

Obama offer raises tax increase threshold to $400,000, more cuts
Cameron says British exit from European Union is ‘imaginable’

Dec 18, 2012

Prime Minister David Cameron said it is ‘imaginable’ for the U.K. to leave the European Union, the first time he has conceded his nation may leave the bloc altogether.“All futures for Britain are imaginable,” Cameron told lawmakers in Parliament in London today, when asked if he foresaw a British withdrawal from the EU. He said a British departure is “Not my preference.”Cameron has said he will set out his plans to renegotiate the U.K.’s membership of the 27-nation bloc next year and that he wil