Bussiness n World News

(CNN) -- The United States has offered more than $900 million to help the Palestinian people, particularly those in Gaza, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Monday. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends Gaza donors conference in Egypt on Monday. ...

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- When China's legislature opens its annual session this week, the focus will be on jobs, the economy and social stability. Delegates have begun to gather for China's annual meeting of its National People's Congress. Every year, over 3,000 delegates to the National People's Congress meet in Beijing to review draft laws and vote on government budget and policies. Delegates come from central and local governments, the military and police, including ethnic minority representatives, who typically show up in their traditional costumes. In the past, the NPC has been dismissed as...

Climate protesters demonstrating against Donald Trump's plans for a sports resort broke into a Scottish airport Tuesday, setting up a small golf course and scaling the roof of a terminal building. Climate protesters broke into Aberdeen Airport in the early hours of Tuesda...

Gas demand goes up 10 pc annually Updated at: 0725 PST, Tuesday, March 03, 2009 KARACHI: Demand for gasoline consumption is going up by 10 percent annually here in Pakistan; experts said adding it is necessary to find new oil and gas reservoirs to meet the rising demand. In a report on energy in Pakistan, it is stated that country’s daily gas demand was 4731 mmcfd while locally we produce 4528 mmcfd. Pakistan remain short of 203 mmcfd gas daily while mere 17 percent of the total population have access to gas in country.

US offers new $30 bln bailout package to troubled AIG Updated at: 0121 PST, Tuesday, March 03, 2009 WASHINGTON: The US government Monday unveiled a fresh rescue plan worth 30 billion dollars to help AIG stave off collapse as the ailing insurer revealed the biggest loss in American corporate history. The revamped bailout came as American International Group announced a quarterly loss of 61.7 billion dollars -- the biggest ever for a US firm in one quarter -- pushing up its net loss for 2008 to 99.3 billion dollars. The government, which had already pumped some 150 billion dollars into AIG, said the restructured aid package sought to avert a potentially catastrophic collapse of what had been the world's biggest insurer. Officials said a failure at AIG could send new shockwaves through an economy already ravaged by recession. "Given the systemic risk AIG continues to pose and the fragility of markets today, the potential cost to the economy and the taxpayer of government ina...

Oil prices recover in Asian trade Updated at: 1313 PST, Tuesday, March 03, 2009 SINGAPORE: Oil prices recovered slightly in Asian trade Tuesday after falling earlier on fresh financial turmoil, analysts said. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, gained 25 cents to 40.40 dollars a barrel in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for April was up 17 cents to 42.38 dollars per barrel. Oil prices had risen last week in anticipation of increasing demand for motor fuel and indications of output cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), traders said.

‘There will be no recession in UAE’, says Al Mansouri Updated at: 0127 PST, Tuesday, March 03, 2009 ABU DHABI: The global slowdown could prompt adjustments in Abu Dhabi’s economic plans for the next five years, but it will not cause any modification of the emirate’s plan to diversify and expand its economy in the long run, a government official says. “The principles and priorities for the 2030 plan have not changed,” said Mohammed Abdullah, the undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Planning and Economy, referring to the long-term blueprint for the emirate. The Minister of Economy, Sultan al Mansouri, speaking on the sidelines of the forum, agreed. “I don’t think there will be recession in the UAE,” he said, according to foreign media report. “At present, we see stability for at least nine months.” “The Federal Government has provided liquidity to banks to help the private sector, but unfortunately the private sector still lacks a lot,” said Abdullah al Mansouri, the chairman...

Updated at: 1259 PST, Monday, March 02, 2009 SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell in Asian trade Monday on demand concerns after the US economy performed below expectations in the fourth quarter, dealers said. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, fell 80 cents to 43.96 dollars a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for April shed 75 cents to 45.60 dollars per barrel.

Asian shares down after more bad news on Wall Street Updated at: 0903 PST, Monday, March 02, 2009 TOKYO: Asian stocks tumbled early Monday on the back of Wall Street's losing streak as gloom deepened over the global economy and the health of major banks. Tokyo was down 3.2 percent by lunch and Sydney lost 3.0 percent by midday. Hong Kong opened 2.3 percent lower and Chinese shares were down 1.0 percent. Asian shares started the week on the downbeat note amid worries about the health of large US banks and broader fears over the global economy. "The US economy is in the worst shape it's been for probably 50 or 60 years, so it's hard for equities to rally." The Dow has dropped 19.5 percent so far this year while Japan's Nikkei is down 17 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is off almost 13 percent. Investors were disappointed by news of a 6.2 percent contraction in the US economy in the fourth quarter of last year that was far worse than the earlier govern...

Updated at: 0502 PST, Sunday, March 01, 2009 LAHORE: Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has announced to supply 70,000 bags of Atta to Sunday Bazars. PFMA spokesman said steps are being taken to ensure smooth supply of Atta in Lahore city with the help of Food Department. The flour mills will supply Atta in their own trucks at Sunday Bazars.

LONDON: HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, will tomorrow announce the closure of its troubled US mortgage lending operation to new business alongside plans to cut its dividend and raise more than £12bn in a deeply-discounted rights issue. The developments will underline the depth of the international financial crisis and, in the context of HSBC’s substantial operations in Asia, raise questions about the deteriorating health of the global economy. HSBC, led by Stephen Green, its executive chairman, will say that it is drawing a line under the continuing problems of HFC, the consumer finance operation in the US which has racked up billions of pounds in losses since it was acquired six years ago, by putting it into run-off. The bank plans to announce a two-for-five rights issue, underwritten by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Cazenove, which will be priced at about 300p, a discount of more than 40pc to Friday’s closing price of 491.25p. It will also cut its dividend by at least a third, according t...

Updated at: 0327 PST, Sunday, March 01, 2009 KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has slashed the price of furnace oil by Rs2,770 per tonne to Rs25,445 for the next fifteen days. PSO has decided to reduce the price imported furnace oil by Rs823 per tonne to Rs26,608. The above reduction will bring down the cost of production for the power producers that use mostly use furnace oil for generation of power.

Updated at: 1255 PST, Monday, March 02, 2009 KARACHI: Inter-bank initial interest rate dropped down below 13 percent, as six months’ Kibor stood at 12.85 percent. Money market dealers said that the interest rate of six months’ Kibor during January 1 till to date shrank by 2.83 percent due to existing additional liquidity in the banking system and, therefore, the money market dealers were expecting a cut in interest rate. On the other hand, inter-bank one year T-Bills cut off yield was 13 percent on February 25, which now after the shrink traded at 12.85 percent. Economists said that the banks preferring investment in government securities instead of giving loans to the private sector and avoiding taking any risk. In this backdrop, private sector was also reluctant taking loans at high rate of interest. According to State Bank disbursement of loans to the private sector as against previous year remained 47 percent low.

Consumer spending up, ending slide Government report shows larger-than-expected increase was first gain in 7 months. Income in surprise gain. March 2, 2009: 8:36 AM E NEW YORK -- Consumer spending rose more than expected in January, after declining for six consecutive months, according to government figures released Monday. The Commerce Department report showed spending by individuals rose 0.6% last month, after dropping 1% in December. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast an increase of 0.4%. The report also showed that personal income rose 0.4% in January, following a decline of 0.2% in the previous month. Economists had forecast another 0.2% decline. Last month, the government reported that consumer spending rose an anemic 3.6% in 2008, the smallest full-year increase in 47 years.

Stocks set for drubbing U.S. stocks expected to tumble at the open as investors react to massive quarterly loss from AIG and bailout restructuring. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks could take a beating at Monday's open on Wall Street after American International Group reported a massive quarterly loss and a restructuring of its bailout by the government. At 7:52 a.m. ET, Standard & Poor's 500, Nasdaq-100 and Dow Jones industrial average futures were sharply lower. The Dow and S&P begin the week at their lowest levels in about 12 years, after tumbling last week on market anxiety over the state of the global economy and the world financial system. At its current rate of decline, the Dow could easily slip below its 7,000 mark on Monday. "There's a buyer's strike right now in the stock market," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. He blamed the decline in futures on "ongoing concerns about the global recession,...

Markets routed as AIG reveals $62B loss Global stock markets were reeling Monday as U.S. insurance giant AIG revealed monumental quarterly losses of $62 billion and UK bank HSBC announced a huge slump in profits. AIG's quarterly losses amounted t...

Updated at: 1904 PST, Saturday, February 28, 2009 ISLAMABAD: The prices of petroleum and oil lubricants (POL) will remain unchanged for the month of March, Geo news reported on Saturday. According to sources, Finance Ministry had forwarded summary to Prime Minister recommending to keep petroleum products’ prices unchanged by 1st March which, premier has approved today. This approval will mount Rs.17 billion profit to government excluding taxes, sources added. Government gained Rs.15 billion profit owing to petroleum development delivery in the month of February but Rs.2 billion additional profit will be added in March, sources maintained.

Updated at: 0547 PST, Saturday, February 28, 2009 LONDON: The UK revealed yesterday it was planning to inject up to £25.5bn ($36.5bn) in additional capital into Royal Bank of Scotland as part of a plan to stabilise the beleaguered lender and prevent it from being fully nationalised. The injection, under a government scheme to ringfence £325bn of RBS's assets against large future losses, is the first of what is expected to be a series of banking bail-outs designed to kick-start lending to the ailing British economy. Lloyds Banking Group, which includes HBOS, is today expected to reveal details of a similar scheme to ringfence up to £250bn of potentially bad assets. The long-awaited move came as RBS reported a £24.1bn loss for 2008, the largest in British corporate history, and revealed that businesses with assets of about £240bn - almost a quarter of the bank's balance sheet - would be sold or wound down over the next three to five years. The losses and insurance scheme are fur...

Updated at: 1101 PST, Saturday, February 28, 2009 KARACHI: Pakistan's Central Bank sold 10 billion rupees ($125 million) of Treasury bills on Saturday under five-day repo contracts at 9.00 percent to mop up funds from the money market.

Updated at: 1400 PST, Saturday, February 28, 2009 KARACHI: The government has set a target for bringing down the interest rate to 12 percent by June 2009. Addressing a seminar on ‘public-private partnership’ under the aegis of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Federal State Minister for investment, Salim H. Mandviwala said that the government was making out an industrial package for boosting industries, which would provide support to the industries. He further said that the government was seriously working on ending power outage by increasing power production, while talks were underway with the Chinese investors for power production from garbage and other refuse, which would soon be given a final shape.