European finance ministers are considering making banks take bigger losses on Greek debt and have postponed a vital aid payment to Athens until mid-November, setting up a crunch point in the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis
European banks -- particularly those based in France and Germany with heavy exposure to Greek government bonds -- are suffering the worst damage.
European finance ministers are considering making banks take bigger losses on Greek debt and have postponed a vital aid payment to Athens until mid-November, setting up a crunch point in the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.
Anyone hoping that recent falls in commodity prices would provide a boost to powerhouse Asian economies and help lift the developed world out of recessionary danger will be disappointed. The region's focus remains firmly on inflation.
European stocks are dropping on reports that the Greek government will not achieve the deficit targets it needs to receive the next tranche of the bailout from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Greece's admission that it will miss its deficit targets this year and next despite harsh new austerity measures sent stock markets reeling on Monday and raised new doubts over a planned second international bailout.
Greece will miss a deficit target set just months ago in a massive bailout package, according to government draft budget figures released on Sunday, showing that drastic steps taken to avert bankruptcy may not be enough.
Greece will most likely receive the next tranche of the EU/IMF bailout loan in October, Austria's Finance Minister Maria Fekter was quoted telling German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Sunday.
Greece was expected to unveil its plan on Sunday to begin laying off state workers, the most contentious part of a reform package demanded by the EU and IMF to free up loans and stave off bankruptcy.
Greek officials held talks on Saturday with European Union and International Monetary Fund negotiators to free up urgently needed bailout loans, but the government and the lenders were reported to be at odds.
Germany's parliament approved new powers for the euro zone's crisis fund on Thursday but it was not clear if Angela Merkel got enough votes from her coalition to silence rebels worried about funding a series of bailouts of countries like Greece.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a battle for her political survival on Thursday when some of her coalition, worried about throwing good money after bad by bailing out Greece, could humiliate her in a parliament vote on euro-zone rescue schemes.
International auditors return to Athens on Thursday to deliver a verdict on whether Greece's tougher austerity measures qualify for aid to avert a default that would plunge the country into bankruptcy.
Caution ahead of an audit of Greece's finances drove major world stock markets lower on Wednesday, while prices of commodities like oil and copper fell.
A decision of providing the Greek government with more badly needed bailout cash hinges on a review of Athens’ debt-reduction progress by officials from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Greece faced a new test in its attempt to avoid bankruptcy on Wednesday as international auditors headed for Athens, while Germany suggested a new bailout may be renegotiated as argument rages over whether private creditors should take bigger losses.
Sales of gold by European central banks and the International Monetary Fund fell to their lowest annual level since an agreement governing such transactions was ratified in September 1999, the World Gold Council said Tuesday.
President Barack Obama said on Monday that Europe's debt crisis was scaring the world and eurozone leaders were not acting fast enough, underscoring concerns about the fallout for the U.S. economy and his own re-election chances.
Rahul Gandhi, heir to the family dynasty that has dominated politics in the world's biggest democracy for generations, was trying to make himself heard in the uproar of Parliament.
Euro-zone officials are working to magnify the firepower of the region's rescue fund, European Central Bank policymakers said on Monday, while President Barack Obama piled on pressure for Europe to staunch a sovereign debt crisis that threatens the world economy.
The Greek government began a race for parliamentary approval of a stepped-up austerity package vital to keep the debt-laden euro zone state afloat and buy time for Europe to approve new rescue measures.
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, expects to raise its output this year to the point that it could account for half of the world's production, President Alassane Ouattara said on Saturday.
