Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.
German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel on Thursday, called for global co-ordination of debt issuance to ensure that governments do not push up borrowing costs by competing against each other in the capital markets. The German leader also signalled, that her government could act under Article 100 of the Maastricht Treaty, allowing financial assistance to be given to countries such as Ireland, which are experiencing “difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control.” Also on Thursday, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in Dublin, that claims Ireland may default, are “absurd.”
President Barack Obama on Thursday delivered a $3.6 trillion budget for the fiscal year ending September 2010 and said it aims to “break from a troubled past,” with expanded government activism, tax increases and spending cuts targeted at those he says profited from “an era of profound irresponsibility.” The budget plan projects a federal deficit of $1.75 trillion for 2009, or 12.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), a level not seen since 1942, the first year of World War II for the United States.
An aging mall in Pennsylvania is fighting to reinvent itself amid the toughest climate for retailers in decades.
Most countries of the European Union have been hit by the worldwide recession. The economy in the Eurozone will contract by 2.0 percent this year. This is the conclusion of the latest report of the international group of economists - - the European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG) - -of which the President of the German Ifo Institute for Economic Reseach, Prof Hans-Werner Sinn is also a member. Although GDP in the Eurozone will expand again in 2010 at a slow pace of 0.2 percent, unemployment will continue to rise. In contrast to past downturns, the contraction in one country will not be offset by growth in another, since the whole Western world has been hit by the recession.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil; The US budget deficit is expected to reach a record $1.75 trillion in the current fiscal year, which ends in September 2009.
An increasing number of petitions for Irish company examinership are failing due to the courts deciding that they do not have a reasonable chance of surviving the current economic crisis according to Michael Quinn, Head of Corporate Recovery & Insolvency at William Fry speaking at the Firm’s breakfast briefing on Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said today in Dublin, that the Irish economy faces “severe challenges” over the next few years and the Government will have to make “hard decisions” on its public finances.
Eurozone M3 money supply growth – a measure of cash and credit growth in the region and viewed as an indicator of future inflation - - fell more than expected in January, the European Central Bank reported on Thursday, signalling another interest rate cut next week, from the current benchmark rate of 2%.
In February, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the EU and the Eurozone, fell again. The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the Eurozone fell significantly in February to yet another low, reaching its lowest point since January 1985.