Finance

Zapatero: Spain’s financial system solid

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, facing investor concerns about Spain’s indebtedness, said his country was financially “solid” and would rein in its public deficit. Speaking at a conference in Washington, Zapatero said Spain faced big economic challenges, but did not have to inject funds into its financial system like other countries. “That will […]

Bulgaria may lose EU aid again over fraud

The EU has warned Bulgaria it could lose billions in aid and suffer fines if the new government fails to stop fraud

UK consumer confidence rises in January

British consumer confidence rose in January, a survey showed recently, but households showed less desire to spend than normal for the start of the year and barriers to a full recovery in sentiment remain. The Nationwide Building Society’s consumer confidence index rose three points to 73 in January, almost twice the low of 39 recorded […]

Kenya’s MPC sees no risk with domestic inflation

Kenya’s inflation rate is likely to remain low in the near future as the performance of east Africa’s biggest economy improves, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said on Friday. In a statement expounding upon the MPC’s decision to keep its key central bank rate (CBR) at seven percent on Tuesday, Central Bank of […]

Litigation funds turn spotlight on Britain

A review of civil litigation in Britain that seeks to overhaul the “no win, no fee” legal culture is attracting a rush of funds that finance lawsuits in return for a cut of payouts. Industry analysts said the report by senior British judge Rupert Jackson, who wants to slash legal costs to promote access to […]

Portugal sees modest deficit cut in 2010

Portugal’s government expects a small budget deficit reduction this year to around 8.3 percent of GDP, but from a wider than previously expected gap in 2009, an opposition party leader has said. Jose Pedro Aguiar Branco, the head of the centre-right Social Democratic Party’s (PSD) parliament faction, told reporters the government had told the PSD […]

Fraud costs UK economy £30bn a year

Fraud costs the British economy more than £30bn a year, according to the government’s first official estimate. The National Fraud Authority (NFA) said on average fraud costs every adult £621 a year, through both its direct effects and the indirect impact of losses being recovered through taxes and the increased prices of products and services. […]

Merkel says binding global climate targets essential

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on industrialised and emerging nations to agree to binding targets on cutting greenhouse gases, saying that this was the only way to fight climate change. Merkel, who has taken a leading role in pushing other countries to fight climate change, also put the blame squarely on emerging states for […]

SABMiller Q3 beer volumes flat, misses forecasts

Brewing giant SABMiller missed forecasts as it reported flat third-quarter worldwide underlying beer volumes as consumer demand was varied with some regions showing signs of recovery and others subdued. The London-based brewer, which lost out to Heineken in the race for Mexican brewer FEMSA Cerveza earlier this month, reported level volumes for its October-December 2009 […]

Executives drive Polish economic growth

Marta Kowalska-Marrodàn, head of Egon Zehnder Warsaw, talks to Stephen Neale about why Poland’s top managers are today among Europe’s most successful

Trichet: Greece must work own problems

Growing debt is a major problem for European governments, according to ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, warning that Greece in particular faced a lot of work to put its house in order

The road less travelled

Organisations need now, more than ever before, to have greater visibility to identify where they can improve performance and eliminate waste

The hushed cost of a smartphone

Has your organisation received large phone bills from your mobile operator? If your answer is ”yes”, you should read this article

Managing capital

Demica, the working capital solutions specialist, is the consulting and technology partner of choice for a range of multi-national corporations

UN to launch Haiti appeal for $550m

UN aid agencies will launch an emergency appeal for approximately $550m to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, a UN spokeswoman said. Thousands of people injured in Tuesday’s massive earthquake in the Caribbean country spent another night waiting for help, many lying on sidewalks, as their despair turned to anger. A spokeswoman for the […]

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