Global Financial Crisis – International

LECCE, Italy (AFP) – – G8 finance chiefs on Saturday warned the global economic outlook remained uncertain and risky despite “signs of stabilisation” after talks in southern Italy.

The world’s largest economies are beginning to stabilise but still face major risks amid an ongoing global recession, G8 finance ministers say.

Free trade agreement in limbo again PARIS: World Trade Organization (WTO) head Pascal Lamy said on Friday he saw no “positive sign” for world trade, which has been battered by the global economic crisis.

More than 4,000 delegates representing governments, employers and workers are meeting at the annual Conference of the ILO from 3 to 19 June to discuss ways of addressing the global crisis in jobs and social protection. ILO Online asked Raymond Torres, Director of the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies about the current jobs situation,…

The world economy will shrink by much more than previously thought, according to the World Bank.

Slump worse than the 9/11 aftermath   KUALA LUMPUR: The world’s airlines are expected to lose nine billion dollars this year, industry body IATA said Monday in a drastic reassessment of the worst slump the industry has ever faced.

Work sharing could be a relevant response to the global jobs crisis, according to a new ILO policy brief prepared for discussion at the International Labour Conference in Geneva from 3-19 June 2009. Work sharing policies and programmes can result in a “win-win-win” solution benefiting workers, employers and governments. ILO Online spoke with ILO working…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded a cautiously upbeat note on the U.S. economy on Wednesday but warned that corralling government debt was vital to ensuring the nation’s long-term health.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Fresh signs emerged Monday that the recession is letting up in the United States. Manufacturing’s slide is slowing. Builders are boosting spending on construction projects – including homes. And consumers aren’t cutting back as much as some had feared.

MANILA, Philippines–With the global recession deepening at an unprecedented pace, the International Labor Organization has predicted that the number of unemployed in Asia will grow between 9 million and 26 million this year.

LONDON (AFP)–The world is sitting on a “powder keg” of social unrest, which risks exploding as human rights are eroded by the global economic slowdown, Amnesty International warned Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US consumer confidence leapt in May to an eight-month high, the Conference Board said Tuesday in a report offering fresh hopes of an end to the prolonged recession.

MADRID (Reuters) – World economic recovery will be slow and rising unemployment could bring the threat of social crisis and protectionism, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in an interview with Spanish Sunday newspaper El Pais.

MADRID/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – World economic grouping OECD said on Monday the global economy had come out of “free fall,” offering hope of incipient recovery late this year to investors and markets unnerved by rising U.S. government debt.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Reserve expects the economy to improve in coming months, even as policymakers downgraded their outlook for all of 2009 and said the unemployment rate could approach 10 percent.

The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) on Wednesday said many displaced Filipino workers have returned to work in Taiwan, as its electronics industry began to recall workers.

BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) — The financial crisis has forced central banks to take on “significant” risks, raising the issue of what role they should play in safeguarding financial stability, the BIS said Sunday.

SEOUL (AFP)–The worst of the global economic crisis is probably over but any early recovery is unlikely due to massive debts worldwide, Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said Tuesday.

SOUTHEAST Asian nations should delay eliminating their import duties at the end of the year to shield their economies from the global recession, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said yesterday.

Economies worldwide may only start to recover after two to five years, especially with the global economic crisis taking its toll on major industries, Japan’s former top currency official said Thursday.

Reuters/AFP – U.S. economic data offered more evidence on Friday that the recession’s worst phase may be over, with April consumer prices unchanged and industrial output declining at a slower pace than in March.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US home foreclosures reached a record pace in April for the second consecutive month, underscoring the deepening crisis in the housing market, private data showed Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The global financial crisis is taking an increasing toll on Asia’s corporate sector with the region’s economies now among the world’s hardest hit, a senior IMF official warned Tuesday.

Brussels (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has welcomed a new ILO Global Report on forced labour worldwide, which will be submitted to the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference in Geneva in June.

BERLIN–The global economy has already passed the worst of the economic crisis and should soon pull out of its slump, led by Asia and China in particular, Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros said on Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – The PCs are hanging on marginally better than other products as the global recession mercilessly tears into every industry, including the hi-tech sector.

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino workers are now getting hired abroad contrary to the government’s claim, the recruitment industry said yesterday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The US economy is expected to begin growing in the second half of this year, while the jobless rate is expected to peak in the first quarter of 2010, according to a survey of top forecasters released on Sunday.

Black men suffer disproportionately from mental health problems. Men are struggling to cope with the emotional impact of the recession, a mental health charity has warned.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said “it is going to take a while” for the economy to recover from recession while noting “important signs of some stability.”