Finance news

• Merkel urges closer tech ties with rising IT giant China

  15-03-2015 22:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged closer high-tech cooperation with China as she opened a major IT business fair where the Asian giant is the official partner country. "German business values China not just as our most important trade partner outside of Europe but also as a partner in developing sophisticated technologies," she said. Merkel was speaking at the opening the CeBIT fair in the western city of Hanover, where more than 600 Chinese companies will exhibit their t
  
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• Thousands in Hungary use holiday to rally against government

  15-03-2015 20:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The rally by civil groups and some leftist parties coincided with an established national holiday and with a new Sunday trading ban that forced most shops to close, despite criticism from the retail sector and an Ipsos survey showing more than two-thirds of people asked were against it. The groups that organized the rally on Facebook have called for a referendum on a clampdown on corruption, more transparency in public investments and for details of a 10-billion-euro ($10.5 billion) nuclear deal
  
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• Nearly 1 million Brazilians protest Rousseff, economic woes

  15-03-2015 19:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Close to a million demonstrators marched in cities and towns across Brazil Sunday to protest a sluggish economy, rising prices and corruption - and to call for the impeachment of leftist President Dilma Rousseff. The marches across the continent-sized country come as Brazil struggles to overcome economic and political malaise and pick up the pieces of a boom that crumbled once Rousseff took office in 2012. Now in the third month of her second four-year t
  
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• Egypt basks in world support at investor conference

  15-03-2015 19:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Egypt's president claimed broad support from the international community for his vision of the future on Sunday, in a boisterous speech to an investor conference that saw billions pledged to boost the country's battered economy after four years of turmoil following a popular uprising.
  
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• German rescue fund takes over Duesselhyp bank after Heta problems

  15-03-2015 19:01
  FRANKFURT, March 15 (Reuters) -
  Germany's deposit protection fund is planning to take over the
  property lender Duesseldorfer Hypothekenbank AG
  (DuesselHyp), which has run into problems due to...
  
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• Egypt premier: $36 billion invested in country at conference

  15-03-2015 18:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Egypt's prime minister says investment in the country at a three-day economic conference have reached $36.2 billion.
  
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• Egypt signs deals worth $36 bln at investment summit: PM

  15-03-2015 18:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt signed deals worth $36 billion at an international investment conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said on Sunday, in a boost to the government's efforts to revive the economy.
  
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• Merkel to open IT fair with China showcasing tech's shift east

  15-03-2015 18:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday opens a major IT business fair where official partner China will showcase its rise as a high-tech power. Merkel -- who has visited China seven times in a decade -- will meet Vice Premier Ma Kai as more than 600 Chinese companies exhibit their tech marvels at the CeBIT fair in the western city of Hanover. Jack Ma, head of Alibaba -- China's answer to eBay and Amazon -- will give the keynote address, and companies including Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo w
  
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• Sisi says Egypt needs $200-$300 billion to develop

  15-03-2015 15:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt needs $200-$300 billion to develop, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at an international investment conference on Sunday, pressing his campaign to lift the Arab world's most populous country from years of economic turmoil. Egypt, with a population of about 90 million, has been hit hard by economic and political upheaval since an uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak four years ago. With the high-profile, glitzy 3-day summit in the Red Sea r
  
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• Egypt's Sawiris to diversify Orascom, invest $500 million in Egypt

  15-03-2015 15:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Top Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris said he was ready to invest $500 million in Egypt and was diversifying his telecoms business into infrastructure, energy and transportation, sectors which need major funds in the country. They need to have a pusher, and the minister of investment is a pusher," said Sawiris, 60, chairman and chief executive of Orascom Telecom, Media and Technology . He said the government should form a committee to firmly thrust the investment agenda forward and help r
  
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• Egypt signs MOUs with developers for $12.7 bln in projects-minister

  15-03-2015 15:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ehab Farouk SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt has signed preliminary deals with four Arab real estate developers for four projects worth a total of $12.7 billion, the country's housing minister said on the sidelines of an economic summit on Sunday. The Arab world's most populous country faces a persistent housing shortage, with population growth outstripping new construction of affordable housing units. Moustafa Madbouly said that the housing ministry had signed MOUs with Egypt's Mount
  
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• Egypt's Sawiris to diversify Orascom, invest $500 mln in Egypt

  15-03-2015 15:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Stephen Kalin and Michael Georgy SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Top Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris said he was ready to invest $500 million in Egypt and was diversifying his telecoms business into infrastructure, energy and transportation, sectors which need major funds in the country. Sawiris, a billionaire from a powerful Coptic Christian family, said the investment conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh had been a success but that the government would need need to mak
  
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• Egypt signs MOUs with developers for $12.7 billion in projects: minister

  15-03-2015 14:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt has signed preliminary deals with four Arab real estate developers for four projects worth a total of $12.7 billion, the country's housing minister said on the sidelines of an economic summit on Sunday. The Arab world's most populous country faces a persistent housing shortage, with population growth outstripping new construction of affordable housing units. Moustafa Madbouly said that the housing ministry had signed MOUs with Egypt's Mount
  
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• Egypt's president boisterous after major economic conference

  15-03-2015 13:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is boisterously marking the final day of a major economic conference that has injected billions of dollars' worth of aid and investment in his country.
  
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• Thousands to protest in Frankfurt against ECB 'austerity'

  15-03-2015 13:10
  FRANKFURT, March 15 (Reuters) - Thousands of people are expected to march in Frankfurt on Wednesday to protest against austerity policies they blame on the European Central Bank, as the ECB...
  
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• New Egypt tourism minister sets out 2020 growth plan

  15-03-2015 12:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Stephen Kalin SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt hopes to generate $20 billion in revenue from tourism by 2020 by attracting 20 million visitors, new tourism minister Khaled Ramy said on Sunday at an international investment conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. An uprising that toppled leader Hosni Mubarak four years ago hit the economy hard, discouraging investors and tourists and slashing economic growth. Egypt hopes the conference will project an image of stability an
  
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• Surprise Asian consortium interested in Philips lighting -sources

  15-03-2015 12:46
  FRANKFURT, March 15 (Reuters) - A surprise Asian consortium has emerged in the auction for Philips' lighting components business worth roughly 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion), two sources familiar...
  
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• After Saudi feud, Sweden debates a "feminist" global role

  15-03-2015 12:14
  STOCKHOLM, March 15 (Reuters) - In a few months, Sweden's minority government has managed to antagonise both Israel and the Arab world, while also angering business leaders at home as Foreign...
  
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• UK's Osborne announces new pension reform ahead of election

  15-03-2015 11:28
  LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Britain will allow pensioners to cash in annuities in exchange for a cash lump sum, finance minister George Osborne said on Sunday, but insisted there would be no...
  
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• Egyptian conference says investors commit to $10.7B in deals

  15-03-2015 11:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Investors committed $10.7 billion to projects in Egypt on the second day of a summit meant to spur the ailing economy, organizers said Sunday.
  
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• China has 'ample' room for economic stimulus: premier

  15-03-2015 10:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Chinese government has more weapons in its arsenal to boost its flagging economy, the world's second-largest, Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday at his once-a-year press conference. Li -- who is second only to President Xi Jinping in the Communist hierarchy -- was speaking at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, where he also addressed topics including Sino-Japanese relations, air pollution and the future of China's notorious one-child policy. China's economy expanded 7.4 perc
  
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• No more Blue Banana, Europe's industrial heart moves east

  15-03-2015 10:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Paul Taylor BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Once depicted as a "Blue Banana" stretching from Manchester to Milan, Europe's industrial heartland has moved eastwards just as its political center of gravity has shifted to Germany. The term was coined in 1989 - the year the Berlin Wall fell - to describe French geographer Roger Brunet's work identifying a manufacturing megacity, visible from space at night as a band of light curving from England to Italy via the Netherlands, Belgium, Wes
  
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• Has the Fed's 'patience' been exhausted?

  15-03-2015 10:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Mike Peacock LONDON (Reuters) - For a world economy coming to terms with a soaring dollar and a plunge in oil prices, this week will be all about the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting and its intentions on interest rates. A combination of the European Central Bank printing lots of euros and expectations of a first U.S. rate rise has caused turmoil on the foreign exchanges and in emerging markets. The euro, which peaked at nearly $1.40 in the middle of last year, is now languishing around
  
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• Dreary home market spurs Spanish banks on to foreign climes

  15-03-2015 10:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jesús Aguado MADRID (Reuters) - Subdued growth prospects at home are pushing mid-sized Spanish banks into foreign acquisitions that would have been impossible a few years ago as they struggled under the weight of bad loans. Helped in many cases by European Union rescue funds, Spain's banks have reduced huge debts brought on by a property market crash and prolonged recession, and are now looking to grow. With euro zone interest rates set to remain at record lows for the foreseeable futur
  
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• RPT-Weak euro to help European companies, force U.S. rivals to adapt

  15-03-2015 10:00
  LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - The euro's slide towards parity with the dollar will provide a much-needed boost for European companies this year and force U.S. rivals to adapt their businesses or risk...
  
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• Tanzania dreams big with port project at former slave harbour

  15-03-2015 09:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Edith Honan BAGAMOYO, Tanzania (Reuters) - In its heyday, Bagamayo was a gateway to the heart of Africa for colonisers, with trade goods surging in from the Indian Ocean, and timber, ivory and countless slaves exported from the east coast harbour.     Then Bagamoyo, which looks out towards the island of Zanzibar, fell on lean times for more than a century. Now Tanzania plans an $11 billion project to make it the region's biggest port and an engine of Africa's boom. The Chinese-backed proje
  
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• MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi Arabia retreats; Egypt rallies after investment summit

  15-03-2015 09:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Updates with Saudi Arabia, Egypt open) DUBAI, March 15 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market edged down in early trade on Sunday after oil prices tumbled, while Egypt rallied broadly after pledges for tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment from governments and large companies. Brent crude settled near a one-month low below $55 a barrel on Friday and fell 9 percent on the week, hit by a renewed rally in the dollar and a warning by the International Energy Agency that the oil glut is
  
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• UAE's Majid Al Futtaim says to invest $590 mln more in Egypt

  15-03-2015 08:02
  DUBAI, March 15 (Reuters) - Majid Al Futtaim, a big shopping mall and leisure industry operator based in the United Arab Emirates, will increase its planned investments in Egypt by 4.5 billion...
  
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• China has plenty of room to maneuver policy: Premier Li

  15-03-2015 07:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jason Subler BEIJING (Reuters) - China has a lot of room to maneuver its policy and boost its economy having avoided using strong, short-term stimulus in recent years, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday, in a rare suggestion that authorities can do much more to stoke growth. Li, addressing a news conference at the end of China's annual session of parliament, tried to allay fears about a stumbling economy by vowing to keep it growing at a reasonable speed, even as he acknowledged the job i
  
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• KKR, Varde and Deutsche buy GE Capital consumer finance arm for $6.3 bln

  15-03-2015 07:31
  SYDNEY, March 15 (Reuters) - A consortium of private equity firm KKR & Co LP, alternative investment manager Varde Partners and Deutsche Bank has agreed to buy GE Capital's Australian and New Zealand...
  
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• UPDATE 1-China has plenty of room to manoeuvre policy - Premier Li

  15-03-2015 07:31
  BEIJING, March 15 (Reuters) - China has a lot of room to manoeuvre its policy and boost its economy having avoided using strong, short-term stimulus in recent years, Premier Li Keqiang said on...
  
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• China has 'ample' room for stimulus: premier

  15-03-2015 07:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Chinese government has more weapons in its arsenal to boost the world's second-largest economy, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday as he sought to ease concerns about flagging growth. Li earlier this month decreased China's annual growth target to "approximately seven percent", the lowest since a similar goal in 2004, after the economy expanded 7.4 percent last year, the slowest pace in nearly a quarter of a century. Fears are on the rise that Chinese expansion, a key driv
  
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• Qatar PM sees economic growth up to 7 pct this year

  15-03-2015 07:04
  DOHA, March 15 (Reuters) - Qatar's economic growth is expected to rise to 7 percent this year from 6 percent in 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani told an economic conference on...
  
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• China Premier says won't be easy to grow economy by 7 percent in 2015

  15-03-2015 06:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BEIJING (Reuters) - It won't be easy for China to grow its economy by around 7 percent this year as targeted by the government, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday, but authorities will do what they can to ensure growth stays within a reasonable range. Li said the government will loosen policies, if needed, in a targeted manner to prevent the economy from slowing too much, or avoid a sharp decline in employment. (Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing By Nicholas Heath & Kim Coghill)
  
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• China can prevent systemic financial risks: Premier Li

  15-03-2015 06:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BEIJING (Reuters) - China faces financial dangers as its economy cools but authorities can prevent systemic risks, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday. (Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing By Nicholas Heath & Kim Coghill)
  
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• China to press on with reform despite pain for some

  15-03-2015 06:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BEIJING (AP) — Premier Li Keqiang expressed determination Sunday to press ahead with reforms meant to reduce the Chinese government's role in the economy in hopes of spurring growth despite what he acknowledged would be pain for "vested interests" that benefit from regulation.
  
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• China can prevent systemic financial risks -Premier Li

  15-03-2015 04:59
  BEIJING, March 15 (Reuters) - China faces financial dangers as its economy cools but authorities can prevent systemic risks, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday. (Reporting by Jason Subler;...
  
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• Up to 51 dead after bus crash in southern Brazil

  15-03-2015 04:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As many as 51 people died on Saturday when a passenger bus drove off a cliff in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, police said. Despite nearly a decade of sustained economic growth that only slowed in recent years, the country has done little to improve or expand its creaky infrastructure.
  
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• China Premier says won't be easy to grow economy by 7 pct in 2015

  15-03-2015 04:22
  BEIJING, March 15 (Reuters) - It won't be easy for China to grow its economy by around 7 percent this year as targeted by the government, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday, but authorities...
  
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• China's legislature endorses government plan, closes session

  15-03-2015 03:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BEIJING (AP) — China's national legislature has endorsed government plans to reduce the country's annual economic growth target from 7.5 to 7 percent before closing an annual session that also focused on maintaining employment levels, fighting corruption and curbing pollution.
  
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