The Korea Herald

G20 reach key accord on food speculation

Jun 24, 2011

PARIS (AFP) ― Farm ministers from the world’s top economies agreed on action on Thursday to tame the speculative trading blamed for the food price spikes that have hit consumers’ pockets and sparked unrest.“Today is a great day. We have reached an historic accord,” France’s minister for agriculture Bruno Le Maire declared after the Paris meeting, organized as part of the French presidency of the G
U.S. and others plan to tap oil reserves

Jun 24, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― The United States and other nations that depend on oil imports will release and sell 60 million barrels of crude from emergency stocks in an effort to ease the strain of high oil prices on the global economy.The release by the International Energy Agency, a group of more than two dozen countries, covers only what the world uses roughly every 16 hours. But it was enough to send oil
Merkel warns against Greek debt restructuring

Jun 23, 2011

BERLIN (AP) ― A full-scale restructuring of Greek debt would have “completely uncontrollable” effects on financial markets and could threaten other countries’ stability, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Wednesday.Imposing a so-called haircut on Greek debt ― reducing the amount to be repaid ― would endanger not only banks and other creditors who hold Greek bonds, but also institutions that
IMF hopes to name new chief by June 30

Jun 21, 2011

Fund interviews Carstens for top job; Lagarde nextWASHINGTON (AP) ― The International Monetary Fund said Monday it will interview the two leading candidates for the top job at the 187-nation lending institution this week with the goal of naming a new chief by June 30.In a statement, the IMF said that Agustin Carstens, the head of Mexico’s central bank, will meet with the agency’s executive board o
IMF says global recovery at risk

Jun 19, 2011

SAO PAULO (AFP) -- A fragile global economic recovery could falter unless Europe averts sovereign defaults, the United States gets its fiscal house in order and emerging economies prevent overheating, the IMF warned Friday.“There are very clear risks to the recovery,” the International Monetary Fund‘s research director, Olivier Blanchard, said in Sao Paulo as he presented the Fund’s latest update
Juncker warns debt crisis in Greece could be contagious

Jun 19, 2011

BERLIN (AP) ― Contagion from the Greek debt crisis could spread to at least five other European countries ― including Belgium or even Italy ― if it is not cautiously managed, the head of the eurozone group warned Saturday.Jean-Claude Juncker told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that demanding that private creditors contribute to the next Greek bailout package could be considered a “default”
Merkel wants bank aid for Greece debt

Jun 19, 2011

BERLIN (AFP) ― German Chancellor Angela Merkel Saturday urged “substantial” aid from private creditors to resolve Greek debt woes, as the Eurogroup warned the crisis could spread like a firestorm through EU economies.“We must be sure to try to have a substantial contribution” from private creditors like banks and insurance companies for debt-laden Greece,” Merkel told a meeting of her Christian De
IMF says global recovery at risk

Jun 18, 2011

SAO PAULO (AFP) – There is danger the fragile global recovery could collapse unless Europe averts sovereign defaults, the United States gets its fiscal house in order and emerging economies prevent overheating, the IMF warned Friday. "There are very clear risks to the recovery," the International Monetary Fund's research director, Olivier Blanchard, said in Sao Paulo as he presented the Fund's lat
Ford Asia chief says small cars on way to China, India

Jun 17, 2011
IMF to release Greek funds despite EU delay

Jun 17, 2011
Greek riots, political chaos hammer markets

Jun 16, 2011

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's prime minister, struggling to ensure Parliamentary approval for a crucial austerity bill, said he would reshuffle his Cabinet and seek a vote of confidence for his new government after coalition talks with opposition parties failed.The negotiations collapsed Thursday as rioters clashed with police in the streets of Athens during a general strike and renewed fears of
Bernanke urges GOP to back higher debt limit

Jun 15, 2011

Fed chief says brinkmanship threatens to backfire and harm the economyWASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday urged Republicans to support raising the nation’s borrowing limit. He said threatening to block the increase to gain deeper federal spending cuts could backfire and worsen the economy.Even a short delay in making payments on the nation’s debt would cause severe d
S&P cuts Greece credit rating to lowest

Jun 14, 2011

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Standard & Poor's cut Greece's credit rating deeper into junk territory Monday, saying the country is likely to default on its massive debts at least once by 2013 -- a decision Athens said ignored its efforts to secure continued funding in coming yearsThe rating agency said the downgrade from B to CCC ``reflects our view that there is a significantly higher likelihood of one
Hackers nab card data from Citi customers

Jun 10, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Citigroup Inc. has become the latest victim in a string of high-profile data thefts by hackers targeting some of the world’s best-known companies.The New York bank said Thursday that about 200,000 Citibank credit card customers in North America had their names, account numbers and email addresses stolen by hackers who broke into Citi’s online account site.The breach comes after dat
ECB’s Trichet signals rate increase in July

Jun 10, 2011

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― The head of the European Central Bank signaled another likely interest rate hike in July, warning that higher oil and commodity prices must not be allowed to fuel an inflationary spiral as Europe’s economy grows.Jean-Claude Trichet also reiterated the bank’s opposition to letting Greece restructure its massive debts and was skeptical about a German proposal to get Greece’