Global Financial Crisis – International

TOKYO (AFP) – Asia’s developing economies are suffering more than expected from the global slowdown and must take steps to reduce their reliance on exports, the head of the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.

PHOENIX — President Barack Obama marshaled $75 billion on Wednesday to tackle the foreclosure crisis in an effort to prevent up to 9 million Americans from losing their homes.

FIRMS in Asia Pacific are expected to cut their travel expenses this year, resulting in the decline in hotel bookings in the country, according to Amadeus Philippines.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries like the Philippines have been hit hard by the global financial crisis because of their smaller capitalization and limited access to credit, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

ASIA is likely to have 7.2 million more jobless people in 2009 than last year due to fallout from the global economic crisis, raising the region’s jobless rate to 5.1 percent, the International Labor Organization said Wednesday.

TOKYO: Japan warned Monday it was in the deepest economic crisis since World War II, after Asia’s biggest economy suffered its worst contraction in almost 35 years in the fourth quarter of 2008.

HONG KONG — Asian governments should improve their social security systems and introduce tax incentives to encourage nationals to save less and spend more, a senior Asian Development Bank official said. Rajat Nag, managing director general of the bank, said the financial crisis was an opportunity to transform Asia’s export-led economic structure by expanding its…

US President Barack Obama has signed into law a slimmed-down economic stimulus plan worth about $787bn (£548bn) aimed at boosting the US economy.

PARIS: For a while France was able to say it had dodged the worst of the global economic crisis, but now jobs are being slashed across the country, recession is inevitable and social discontent is rampant.

MANILA, Philippines—The number of unemployed in Asia could swell to 113 million in 2009, or 22.3 million more than last year, due to the global economic crisis, according to the most pessimistic scenario of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

(Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday will unveil the Obama administration’s plans for using the remaining money in the $700 billion financial bailout program approved by Congress in October.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January, the biggest monthly loss in 34 years, and the jobless rate soared to a 16-year peak, putting pressure on lawmakers to act quickly to counter a deepening recession.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic senators agreed on Friday to cut their hopes for a larger economic stimulus package and support a $800 billion compromise that would give President Barack Obama an important but narrow victory.

HONDA Motor Co. said yesterday it was imposing a 5-percent reduction in the salaries of its managers in Japan as well as those stationed overseas to cope with sliding sales.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Nearly 187,000 workers in the US technology sector lost their jobs last year, the highest number in five years, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday.

The international air transport industry is forecast to suffer a $2.5-billion loss this year based on a fuel price of $60 per barrel, a decline of three percent in passenger volumes, a drop of five percent in cargo traffic and yield deterioration of three percent.

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has downgraded its growth projection for the world economy for this year as the financial markets remain under stress despite the policy measures introduced to provide additional capital and reduce credit risks.

The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimous in opposition despite Obama’s frequent pleas for bipartisan support.

PARIS (AFP) – The global financial crisis has sent a wave of rising unemployment across the world as vulnerable workers suffer from the downturn in economies interlinked by globalisation, experts say.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US economic slump worsened since early December, with a slowdown hitting a wide range of industries, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book report Wednesday.

BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) — The global economy will slow sharply this year before posting a “significant pick up” in 2010, the Group of 10’s central bankers said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Barack Obama countered critics with an analysis Saturday by his economic team showing that a program of tax cuts and spending like he’s proposed would create up to 4.1 million jobs, far more than the 3 million he has insisted are needed to lift the country from recession.

Asia’s policymakers should view the global economic crisis as an opportunity to expand investment in “desperately” needed public goods, economist Jeffrey Sachs said.

LONDON (AP) – US and European stock markets fell sharply Wednesday amid fresh worries about the US labor market following a grim jobs survey and the announcement aluminum producer Alcoa will slash jobs.

NEW YORK (AFP) – The nightmarish stock market performance in 2008 erased some 17 trillion dollars in share value worldwide, a Standard & Poor’s report said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to haul the US economy out of recession entails a hefty expansion of the US federal government—a prospect that has conservative critics aghast.

Asian nations can work together to get through the global financial crisis ahead of the United States, but Japan and China must take the lead, a leading UN economics adviser said Wednesday.

BEIJING: China has warned exporters they may end up not getting their money as the international financial crisis has eroded foreign banks’ and importers’ ability to pay.

DUBAI (AFP) — Dubai’s rapid expansion in recent years provided jobs for millions. But the global financial meltdown has abruptly ended the dream for many people as more and more firms sack staff to cut costs.

Temporary workers like Toshie Helena Oguihara were a driving force behind Japan’s economic recovery in recent years, but when the recession returned they found themselves first in the firing line.