G8 says economic recovery gaining traction May 27, 2011 The Group of Eight leaders agreed that the global economic recovery was becoming more “self-sustained,” although higher commodity prices were hampering further growth. In a communique to be issued at the end of a two-day summit in France, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, European nations, the United States and Japan all agreed [...]
Greece warned IMF may block payments May 27, 2011 The chairman of the eurozone finance ministers has warned that the IMF may not release the next payment in Greece’s bail-out package. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said IMF rules may stop it paying because Greece cannot guarantee its solvency for the next 12 months. George Papandreou’s government began a programme of privatisations yesterday but [...]
House prices edge up May 27, 2011 House prices rose slightly faster than expected in May but remained 1.2 per cent below their level a year ago, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Friday. House prices rose 0.3 per cent this month, offsetting the 0.2 per cent fall recorded the previous month, but doing little to alter the picture of a stagnating market. [...]
Britvic hit by rise in costs May 27, 2011 Soft drinks maker Britvic posted a small decline in first half profit as input cost inflation remained high, but said it was confident about the second-half. Britain’s second biggest soft drinks maker behind Coca-Cola Enterprises said underlying pretax profit for the six months to 17 April was £27.7m compared with £27.8m the year before. The [...]
Tate&Lyle beats forecasts and plots more growth May 27, 2011 Sweeteners and starches maker Tate & Lyle beat forecasts with a 34 per cent rise in year profits on Friday helped by higher corn prices and gave an upbeat outlook as it sees another year of profitable growth. The maker of sweeteners like Splenda and starches said it saw a year of good sales growth [...]
Osborne hit by data leak row May 26, 2011 SENSITIVE data leaked by the Treasury could have fallen into “the wrong hands” and been used to profit off the markets, the head of the UK’s statistics office said yesterday in a scathing letter to the chancellor George Osborne. The Treasury has sent confidential inflation data to around 400 recipients prior to its official release [...]
Facebook boss: don’t regulate us May 26, 2011 FACEBOOK founder Mark Zuckerberg defended the internet’s freedom of speech to world leaders at the Group of Eight summit in France yesterday. Smart-suited Zuckerberg (below) and Google chief executive Eric Schmidt both hit back at plans by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to regulate the world wide web, arguing that it aided democracy and free expression. [...]
FAST INTERNET CONNECTION HELPS CHILDREN May 26, 2011 THE internet encourages social interaction for children and adolescents, a German thinktank claimed last night. “The researchers refute the myth that the internet isolates people socially,” the Munich-based Ifo institute said. A fast internet connection can result in children doing more sport and extra-curricula activities, Ifo found.
US outlook knocked by slow GDP growth May 26, 2011 HOPES for a strong American recovery were dashed yesterday by disappointing GDP figures and a surprising upturn in the number of new people claiming unemployment benefits. First-quarter growth came in at an unchanged 1.8 per cent for the US, below the expectations of economists who had anticipated growth to be revised above the two per [...]
Osborne’s growth forecasts slammed by Tullett Prebon May 26, 2011 A CITY broker attacked government growth forecasts as overly optimistic yesterday and warned of an “exceptionally bleak” outlook in a damning assessment of the economy’s progress over the past decade. Tullett Prebon, the brokerage led by investment maverick Terry Smith, issued a doom-filled prediction that government growth forecasts would prove unachievable as the UK weaned [...]
