Bhaskar Prasad

Portugal will endure the second deepest recession in the eurozone in 2012-13, according to Capital Economics.

Though the Swiss National Bank has pledged to maintain its extremely supportive policy stance keeping interest rates as close to zero as possible, the Swiss franc is much too high for exporters' comfort, according to Capital Economics.

Ford has stated that about 1,700 employees have agreed to an offer for early retirement, which will mean that they will be leaving the company on June 1 this year.

The U.S. and European regulators are investigating whether Google violated privacy of users by a special computer code that tricks Apple's Safari Web-browsing software into letting them monitor many users according to a report by Bloomberg.

Estimates of the amount that the tensions between the West and Iran have added to global oil prices range from $5 to $25 per barrel, according to Capital Economics.

The potential growth rate in Japan is low due to a shrinking population as well as slow capital accumulation and without acceleration in productivity growth a shrinking labor force will cause GDP to contract, although GDP per capita is likely to continue to rise according to Capital Economics.

The Indian budget for 2012/13, presented to parliament Friday, incorporates some significant tax hikes and should be viewed positively by the markets and the central bank according to Capital Economics.

The government of Argentina will continue to tighten its grip on the economy as widening economic distortions put the country under increased stress.

The positive reports on the U.S. economy are seen as the major cause of the stocks rallying.

The International Monetary Fund is highly unlikely to approve Ukraine's request to restructure $3 billion of loan repayments due this year, but the fact that the government is even considering such a move demonstrates the extent to which it is running out of options, according to Capital Economics.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday presented the budget for 2012-13 in the Parliament. Here are the highlights of the budget.

Following the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) leaving its repo rate unchanged at Thursday’s meeting and given that measures of activity have picked up recently and inflation is set to fall only gradually in the coming months, the forecast for rate cuts have been reduced to 100 basis points this year according to Capital Economics.

The shares of Goldman Sachs dropped 3.4 percent in New York trading Wednesday, wiping $2.15 billion off its market value following allegations made by a former company executive that the firm took little interest in the clients and was also involved in exploiting them.

The main factors responsible for the widening of the current account deficit are the increase in the goods and services deficit as well as the decrease in the surplus on income.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the budget to the Parliament on March 16 at a time when there has been a considerable worsening in the government's finances.

The comments from Premier Wen Jiabao at the close of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday have sparked interest in the outlook for China’s property and exchange rate policies and in the prospects for political reform according to Capital Economics.

The central bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) left its repurchase rate on hold at 7.5 percent on Wednesday which according to Capital Economics is the most important since the end of the civil war in 2009.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has subpoenaed Apple in order to get details about its mobile-search deal with Google according to a report by Bloomberg.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 218 points, or 1.8%, to close at 13,177, which was the highest since Dec .31, 2007.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. has announced that it will no longer be publishing the print version and will be going in the direction of being totally digital.

The outlook for Mexican economy has brightened in recent months with demand from the U.S. strengthening and also with signs that domestic activity is recovering according to Capital Economics.

The Bank of Japan’s decision to extend its support for lending to growth sectors rather than add to its Asset Purchase Program (APP) on Tuesday appears to have disappointed some but was the outcome that had looked most likely according to Capital Economics.

The U.S. will join Japan and the European Union for pressing the World Trade Organization to force China for loosening its restrictions on exports of rare-earth minerals.

Germany's Bayer AG is planning to challenge the decision by the government of India to allow an Indian drug manufacturer to produce and market its patented cancer medicine Nexavar.

The recent sustained run of stronger economic data, particularly on the labor market, indicates a possible GDP growth of 2.0 percent this year according to Capital Economics.

The markets may currently be giving Italy the benefit of the doubt, but recent data have supported a gloomy view of the economic outlook according to Capital Economics.

In contrast to other regions, February’s inflation data from Saudi Arabia and Egypt show that price pressures are mounting according to Capital Economics.

Exports to the U.S. were a bright spot, but the general picture from China’s latest trade data is that global demand is still subdued, according to Capital Economics.

Finance ministers from euro zone nations are meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss their likely final approval of a second package of rescue loans for Greece.