Rate cut by Indian central bank
The repo rate – at which the Reserve Bank of India injects short-term money into the banking system – was cut by a quarter percentage point to 4.75%.
The move came as the central bank said it expected economic growth to slow to 6% in the current financial year. More
Meltdown losses of ‘$4 trillion’
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that potential losses from the credit crunch could reach $4 trillion (£2.75tn) and damage the financial system for years to come. More
Deflation returns to Britain for first time since 1960
The Office for National Statistics said the RPI was 0.4% lower in March than it had been in March 2008. That was the first negative reading since March 1960, when Harold Macmillan was prime minister and John F Kennedy was running for the US presidency. More
Spain’s Falling Prices Fuel Deflation Fears in Europe
With the combination of rising unemployment and falling prices, economists fear Spain may be in the early grip of deflation, a hallmark of both the Great Depression and Japan’s lost decade of the 1990s, and a major concern since the financial crisis went global last year. More
Asian stocks track Wall Street’s losses
Asian stocks slid and government bonds climbed on Tuesday after a steep rise in bad debt at Bank of America renewed credit fears, sparking worries a 25% month-long rally in global equities had peaked.
Major European stock futures were up 0.1%, pointing to a slightly higher open, after better-than-expected results from British retailer Tesco though the health of the banking industry was a nagging concern. More
Japan Will Issue $110 Billion in Bonds for Stimulus
The Japanese government said on Tuesday it would issue bonds worth 10.82 trillion yen (US$110 billion) to fund its planned stimulus package to try to rescue Japan from its deepest recession since World War Two. More
