The Korea Herald

World Bank, IMF lead move to help North Africa

Apr 15, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Global finance chiefs moved to aid strife-torn North Africa Thursday as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank warned of more potential social unrest from high food prices and joblessness. Finance ministers of leading economies and development bank heads discussed ways to help Egypt, Tunisia and other regional economies rebuild, as the annual spring meetings of the Wor...
Ireland passes IMF/EU test, Fitch ups outlook

Apr 15, 2011
G20 eyes anti-crisis plan, mulls recovery risks

Apr 15, 2011
U.S. Congress OKs budget cuts; fights await

Apr 15, 2011

Record spending cuts win approval, on way to Obama for signing, but bigger deficit fights loom WASHINGTON (AP) ― Congress sent President Barack Obama hard-fought legislation cutting a record $38 billion from federal spending on Thursday, bestowing bipartisan support on the first major compromise between the White House and newly empowered Republicans in Congress. “Welcome to divided government,...
Obama proposes $4tr in deficit cuts

Apr 14, 2011

U.S. president pitches spending cuts, laying down markers for 2012 campaign WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) ― President Barack Obama coupled a call for $4 trillion in long-term deficit reductions with a blistering attack on Republican plans for taxes, Medicare and Medicaid on Wednesday, laying down markers for a roiling debate in Congress and the 2012 presidential campaign to come. Obama said spending cu...
BRICS grapple with China dominance in trade

Apr 13, 2011
G20 to work on imbalances plan

Apr 13, 2011
Moody’s may downgrade Toyota rating

Apr 6, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― Moody’s Investors Service warned Wednesday it may downgrade its credit rating for Toyota Motor Corp. due to the financial fallout from suspended car production following the March 11 quake and tsunami. The rating agency said Toyota’s financial and operating performance will worsen as a result of the disasters, which are causing major disruptions in auto parts supply and have forced ...
Fed’s energy cost worries could mean rate hike

Apr 6, 2011

Notes released from March 15 meeting show growing worries about inflation WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve officials raised concerns last month that a big jump in energy prices could weaken the economy and unleash inflation, prompting a few to suggest the possibility of tightening credit this year. Such a move usually involves boosting interest rates, although the minutes from the Fed’s closed...
GOP 2012 budget seeks $4tr plus in cuts

Apr 4, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Republican plan for the 2012 U.S. budget would cut more than $4 trillion over the next decade, more than even the president’s debt commission proposed, with spending caps as well as changes in the Medicare and Medicaid health programs, its principal author said Sunday. The spending blueprint from Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is to be released Tu...
U.S. unemployment falls to 2-year low

Apr 3, 2011

Economists expect stronger hiring, producing a net gain of about 2.5m jobs WASHINGTON (AP) ― The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in two years in March, and the outlook is brightening as major companies plan to add more jobs. Increased hiring cut the unemployment rate to 8.8 percent ― an encouraging sign for the unemployed and for President Barack Obama’s re-election prosp...
Oil climbs to highest on Libya conflict

Apr 1, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― The price of oil rose to a 30-month high on Thursday as fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi pushed back rebels from key areas in eastern Libya. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.45, more than 2 percent, to settle at $106.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. At one point it hit $106.83, the highest it’s been since September, 2008. In London, Brent crude ros...
Ireland orders banking overhaul

Apr 1, 2011

DUBLIN (AFP) ― Ireland’s central bank on Thursday ordered a drastic overhaul of the eurozone nation’s stricken banking sector as the cost of bailing out its lenders was set to top 70 billion euros ($99 billion). The Central Bank of Ireland said in a statement that four lenders needed to raise an extra 24 billion euros after it carried out vital stress tests on their ability to withstand another ...
S&P cuts Nokia debt rating for first time

Mar 31, 2011

Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, had its debt rating cut for the first time by Standard & Poor’s, which cited market share losses and “weaker” operating margins at the Finnish company. The long-term rating was lowered one step to “A-” with a stable outlook, S&P said in a statement Wednesday. S&P has since June 1998 ranked the debt “A,” the sixth-highest of 10 investment gra...
Toyota Motor may lose 500,000 units

Mar 31, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp. may delay the production of at least 500,000 vehicles in Japan because of a shortage of parts and electricity after the nation’s record earthquake, said an analyst at Advanced Research Japan. Toyota’s operating profit may be hurt by at least 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in the fiscal year ending Thursday and up to 200 billion yen next fiscal year, said Koji Endo, an auto ana...