Hungary Inflation Is ‘Ammunition’ for Rate Cut, Economists Say

Hungary’s falling inflation rate makes the case for a third consecutive interest-rate cut this month as the central bank seeks to jolt the economy out of a recession, economists said.
The bank will lower the benchmark two-week deposit rate by at least half a percentage point to 7.5 percent on Sept. 28, according to […]

U.S. Economic Growth to Slow as Car Rebates End, Survey Shows

The U.S. economy will pull out of the recession at a faster pace than previously forecast, before slowing as the end of the government’s auto-rebate program weighs on consumer spending, a survey of economists showed.
The economy will expand at a 2.9 percent annual rate in July through September, according to the median of […]

Labor struggles as summer unofficially ends

It was never Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July or even Halloween.
Be that as it may, the nation’s working men and women once got their due on the first Monday in September with well-attended parades and testimonials celebrating the strength of the middle class.
Today, labor leaders acknowledge, Labor Day is little more […]

French June Industrial Output Rose More Than Expected (Correct)

French industrial production, led by car production, rose more than expected in June, adding to signs of recovery in Europe’s second-largest economy.
Output at factories and utilities climbed 0.3 percent from May, when it rose a revised 2.8 percent, Paris-based statistics office Insee said today. Economists had forecast that production would rise 0.2, according […]

Pakistan Seeks $4 Billion IMF ‘Insurance’ to Cover Budget Gap

Pakistan has asked the International Monetary Fund for a $4 billion stand-by loan to be used if foreign donors fail to deliver aid needed to fund a widening budget deficit.
The IMF facility is “insurance” if pledged assistance is delayed or does not arrive, Shaukat Tarin, finance adviser to the prime minister, told reporters […]

Bernanke Bid to Lift Housing Scuttled by Rising Rates, Defaults

Kyle McGee went to his mortgage broker’s office yesterday hoping to refinance and save about $200 a month. He walked away empty-handed.
McGee was expecting a rate of 4.7 percent; the broker offered him 5.375 percent. The average 30-year fixed-mortgage rose to 5.08 percent May 27, according to Bankrate.com.
“We feel like we might […]

BOJ to Start Offering Subordinated Loans Next Month

The Bank of Japan will start offering 1 trillion yen ($10 billion) in subordinated loans to banks next month in an effort to bolster their capital and encourage lending.
Banks that meet “international capital standards” will be eligible for loans of up to 350 billion yen, the central bank said today in a statement […]

Citi, Morgan Stanley look to sidestep bonus caps: report

Anticipating restrictions on bonuses, officials at Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley are exploring ways to sidestep tough new federal caps on compensation, the Wall Street Journal said.
Executives at these banks and other financial institutions that received government aid are discussing increasing base salaries for some executives and other top-producing employees, the paper said, citing […]

Service sector contraction slows in January

The U.S. service sector shrank in January, but less severely than expected, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index came in at 42.9 in January compared with 40.1 in December.
The level of 50 separates expansion from contraction. The index dates back to July 1997.
Economists had expected […]

Indonesia Inflation Slows, Exports Plunge; Rate Cut May Follow

Indonesia’s inflation slowed to a nine-month low and exports fell the most in seven years, prompting speculation that the central bank will cut interest rates this week.
Consumer prices rose 9.2 percent in January from a year earlier, after gaining 11.1 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistics Bureau said in Jakarta today. […]