'Mood darkens' in finance sector

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 07:13 GMT Financial services firms expect more challenging conditions, the survey said Financial services firms are expected to cut jobs in the next three months after recent volatility on the stock markets "darkened the mood" in the sector, a report has said.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers and CBI survey said that in the three months to September growth in the sector was at its slowest pace since June 2010.

A further slowdown is expected in the coming quarter, the study said.

Sentiment has fallen for the first time since March 2009.

For the first time in two years, firms expect no improvement in profitability.

Numbers employed rose modestly in the most recent quarter, but are expected to fall by the end of the year.

"The recovery in the financial services sector is continuing, but the pace of growth has slowed compared with earlier in the year," said Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic adviser.

"After a torrid couple of months on global financial markets, the mood has clearly darkened. Uncertainty about future demand, worries about the global recovery and shifting regulatory sands are weighing on sentiment.

"With business volumes predicted to slow further and little growth in income expected, firms are planning to reduce their headcount in the next quarter."

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Icelandic doubts about the euro

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 23:07 GMT By Paul Henley BBC News, Iceland Formal negotiations for Iceland to join the EU come in the middle of the eurozone crisis

Bombarded as Europeans are, these days, by news of economic disaster in the eurozone, few would expect countries to be queuing up to adopt the single currency.

But in Iceland, which this summer opened formal negations to become a member of the EU, the troubled currency remains the big attraction.

"Compared to the Icelandic krona, the euro is like a rock in the sea, you know," is how Gylvi Arnbjoernsson, president of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour, puts it.

He represents an impressive 85% of his country's workers, and he firmly believes joining the EU would benefit them.

"This is partly because we are already members of the European Economic Area (EEA) and enjoying, and also meeting, the challenges of Europe," he says.

"And it is also because the stability of the euro is such that it would be better than the fluctuations of our own currency.

"For the last 50 years in Iceland, the krona has been used to transfer wealth, every 10 years or so, from the workers to the employers, the companies."

In the aftermath of Iceland's big economic crash of 2008, EU membership was suddenly an attractive prospect to many Icelanders - probably a majority of them - because of the safety-in-numbers it seemed to offer.

But times have changed.

Not only are Icelanders taking note of the increasingly frantic efforts of politicians in countries hundreds of kilometres away to save the euro, they are finding that their own financial circumstances constitute less of an emergency.

The conditions attached to their bailout by the IMF seem comparatively lenient.

The new government of 2009 was allowed to carry on borrowing and spending for another year before the cuts kicked in.

In the meantime, devaluation - something impossible for eurozone members - meant all-important exports suddenly became competitive again. Unemployment is already falling.

Many people's mortgages were quietly "re-negotiated" by the newly nationalised banks. The richest 5-7% of the population have been subjected to a new wealth tax.

The welfare state and the health service were shielded from the biggest savings and public sector workers have recently been awarded an above-inflation wage rise.

Opinion polls suggest a clear majority of Icelanders now oppose joining the EU and the finance minister, overseeing all these changes, is among them.

Steingrimur Sigfusson says his country's size has been crucial in the move towards recovery: "You are quicker turning a small boat around than a big ship.

"And that is, I think, what is being proven: that the small, vibrant Icelandic economy, including having our own currency, makes adapting quicker."

Fisheries obstacle

The biggest sticking point for those currently negotiating the possible terms of Iceland's EU membership will undoubtedly be fishing rights.

Iceland owns the rights to 200 nautical miles around its shores.

It fishes and manages them exclusively, sustaining stocks upon which it relies for 70% of its total export business. Gone are the days when banking was Iceland's biggest business.

In the determined fishing community of the Westmann Islands, off the south coast of Iceland, the resistance seems unanimous to any change that might bring EU boats within reach of these waters.

A population of about 4,000, sheltered by intimidating cliffs - black and sheer - in what is the windiest inhabited place on Earth, relies on year-round catches of cod, mackerel and scampi.

Sigmar Oskarsson remembers the Cod Wars with the British in the 1970s, when Iceland last demonstrated the strength of its resistance to foreign fishing fleets.

He is a youthful-looking fisherman of 50, as sceptical as all his colleagues about the idea of EU membership.

"Icelandic fishermen want to keep their jobs," he says.

"We know from our Scottish colleagues how difficult it can be when other nationalities, like the Spanish, fish their grounds.

"We are good at catching fish and good at protecting them. We have been good at it for a hundred years and we want to keep going, to live on fish."

Neither he nor his bosses at the local fishing company go into detail about the fact that Icelandic concerns own substantial amounts of the fishing and fish processing industries in other EU countries, particularly the UK and Germany.

Such extensive foreign involvement would not be allowed under Icelandic law, so it is not as if there is already a level playing field.

Splendid isolation

As the pro and anti campaigns hot up in preparation for a referendum on EU membership, Icelanders will most likely continue to consider themselves a special case.

And their unique isolation within Europe might well prove be too precious an asset for them to compromise.

One of Iceland's most successful artistic exports, the film director and actor Baltasar Kormakur (101 Reykjavik, Jar City), puts it like this when I meet him in a cafe during the city's film festival: "We actually take it for granted that we will get a different treatment from other nationalities.

"We will always be the special kid in the class because we're small. We're not that important. We're like: 'You can't do that to us, you can't take our fish'."

He adds: "It's really hard to beat somebody up who seems too weak to be beaten up."

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Italy's credit rating is slashed

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 06:40 GMT The Italian Prime Minister said he had been expecting the announcement from Moody's The Italian government's credit rating has been slashed by Moody's from Aa2 to A2 with a negative outlook.

The ratings agency blamed a "material increase in long-term funding risks for the euro area", due to lost confidence in eurozone government debts.

Despite Rome's low current borrowing needs, and low private-sector debt levels in Italy, Moody's said market sentiment had turned against the euro.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the decision was expected.

"The Italian government is working with the maximum commitment to achieve its budget objectives," said Mr Berlusconi.

He said that a plan to balance the government's budget by 2013 had been approved by the European Commission.

Sell-off

The initial market reaction to the downgrade was muted.

The news broke half an hour after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

But after-hours trading in stock market futures suggested that at least one percentage point of a late 4% market rally may have been wiped off.

Asian trading was mixed, with stocks initially surging after a report in the Financial Times that EU finance ministers were considering a plan to recapitalise European banks.

Continue reading the main story

The downgrading by Moody's of Italy's credit rating could not have come at a worse time for the eurozone”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News In Japan, stocks on the Nikkei index lost early gains to close down 0.86%. South Korea's main market lost 2.33%. Australian shares ended 1.40% higher.

Stock markets in Hong Kong and mainland China were closed for a holiday.

Oil prices were trading higher in Asia on hopes that efforts by European authorities to contain the eurozone crisis would prevent the world economy from slowing.

Brent crude for November delivery bounced back above $100 a barrel, rising $1.83 to $101.62.

Slow response

Analysts say Italy's downgrade is likely to be followed by similar cuts in the credit rating of Italy's banks, which would put severe pressure on their ability to borrow.

"This downgrade will make it even harder for Italy to borrow," says BBC business editor Robert Peston. "However, that is not the worst of it.

"If Italy is looking like a more risky place to lend, its banks... will find it harder and more expensive to borrow. The [eurozone] banking crisis will be exacerbated."

The rationale for Moody's downgrade will also be worrying for other eurozone governments, such as Spain, whose borrowing costs have also risen like Italy's as markets have lost confidence in their creditworthiness.

Moody's also raised warnings about Italy's growth outlook, citing structural economic problems in Italy, as well as the global economic slowdown.

Another problem noted by the rating agency was what it called political and economic "implementation risks".

"The question is, if [eurozone governments] will move fast enough... to really put in place a credible solution," says Robert Peston.

Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule.An expansion of the eurozone's bailout fund already approved by the euro's 17 governments in July - which is now seen by markets as inadequate - has still yet to be ratified by all the national parliaments.

The slow political response to the emerging crisis, necessitated by the European Union's institutional set-up, has been criticised by many commentators, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

In hock

However the key issue for Moody's was the change in the market's attitude towards eurozone government debts.

The Italian government has for several years earned more in tax revenues than it spends. However, the government also has a large outstanding debt - equivalent to nearly 120% of GDP.

The government relies heavily on the markets' willingness to relend these debts as they come due, and to lend it the cost of meeting its interest payments.

Moody's said that Italy could be further downgraded to "substantially lower rating levels" if a further deterioration in investor sentiment made it even harder for the country to raise cash from the markets.

Italy's cost of borrowing rose sharply over the summer on market fears that a slowdown in Italian growth could make existing debts unsustainable.

That prompted the European Central Bank to intervene by buying up Italy's debts - a controversial policy in Germany. But despite the ECB's action, Italian borrowing costs have begun to creep up again in recent weeks.

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Yahoo! surges on takeover rumour

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 21:40 GMT Yahoo is one of the internet's best-known brands Shares in the internet portal firm Yahoo have leapt 10% on rumours that Microsoft is considering a second attempt at a takeover.

Microsoft, which last bid in 2008, joins a host of other companies which are considering buying Yahoo, one of the internet's best-known brands.

China's giant internet company Alibaba has already said it might buy Yahoo.

Rumours of a bid from Vodafone also pushed shares in BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, 12% higher.

Yahoo shares jumped 10.1% to close at $15.92 and Microsoft shares ended 2.2% higher at $25.89.

Yahoo's current market value is $20bn (￡13bn), compared with Microsoft's previous bid of around $45bn.

Neither party has made any official comment.

Microsoft is said to be divided as to whether it would make sense to mount such a bid.

Reasons in favour include the ability to beat AOL as a competitor by creating a stronger web portal.

Market share

Microsoft already has an agreement with Yahoo involving its Bing internet search engine, which powers Yahoo's search but gives 88% of advertising revenue back to Yahoo.

Combing the two could give Yahoo 30% of the US search market, according to analysts.

According to the latest figures from research firm comScore, Google has 64.8% of the US search market, Yahoo has 16.3% and Microsoft 14.7%.

But Yahoo is seen as lacking in growth potential.

Early last month, Yahoo fired its chief executive in a row over the company's future direction.

It said last month that it had received "inbound interest" from a number of parties.

Sid Parakh, analyst at fund firm McAdams Wright Ragen, told the Reuters news agency: "There are many reasons why this thing probably makes sense.

"If you strip out the variety of assets Yahoo owns, you are pretty much paying nothing for the core business."

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Battle of the knowledge superpowers

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 11:04 GMT By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent "Knowledge clusters" are being built in France to kick start hi-tech industries Knowledge is power - economic power - and there's a scramble for that power taking place around the globe.

In the United States, Europe and in rising powers such as China, there is a growth-hungry drive to invest in hi-tech research and innovation.

They are looking for the ingredients that, like Google, will turn a university project into a corporation. They are looking for the jobs that will replace those lost in the financial crash.

Not to invest would now be "unthinkable", says Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Commissioner responsible for research, innovation and science, who is trying to spur the European Union to keep pace in turning ideas into industries.

She has announced ￡6bn funding to kick-start projects next year - with the aim of supporting 16,000 universities, research teams and businesses. A million new research jobs will be needed to match global rivals in areas such as health, energy and the digital economy.

'Innovation emergency'

Emphasising that this is about keeping up, rather than grandstanding, she talks about Europe facing an "innovation emergency".

"In China, you see children going into school at 6.30am and being there until 8 or 9pm, concentrating on science, technology and maths. And you have to ask yourself, would European children do that?

Maire Geoghegan-Quinn: "The knowledge economy is the economy that is going to create the jobs"

"That's the competition that's out there. We have to rise to that - and member states have to realise that the knowledge economy is the economy that is going to create the jobs in the future, it's the area they have to invest in."

But the challenge for Europe, she says, is to be able to commercialise ideas as successfully as the United States, in the manner of the iPhone or Facebook.

The commissioner says that she was made abruptly aware of the barriers facing would-be innovators at the Nobel Prize awards ceremony dinner.

Instead of basking in the reflected glory of a prize winner funded by European grants, she said she had to listen to a speech attacking the red-tape and bureaucracy - and "generally embarrassing the hell out of me".

Determined that this would never happen again, she is driving ahead with a plan to simplify access to research funding and to turn the idea of a single European research area into a reality by 2014.

With storm clouds dominating the economic outlook, she sees investing in research and hi-tech industries - under the banner of the "Innovation Union" - as of vital practical importance in the push towards creating jobs and growth.

"We have to be able to say to the man and woman in the street, suffering intensely because of the economic crisis: this is a dark tunnel, but there is light at the end and we're showing you where it is."

Global forum

There has been sharpening interest in this borderland between education and the economy.

This month the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) staged its inaugural Global Forum on the Knowledge Economy.

Continue reading the main story

GIANT - the Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies - is an ambitious French example of a knowledge cluster, combining academic research and commercial expertise.

The classic examples have been in California and Boston in the US, and around Cambridge in the UK. Purpose-built centres include Education City in Qatar, Science City in Zurich and Digital Media City in Seoul.

There will be 40,000 people living, studying and working on the GIANT campus. Centres of research excellence will be side-by-side with major companies who will develop the commercial applications. This includes nanotechnology, green energy and the European Synchotron Radiation Facility (pictured above). A business school, the Grenoble Ecole de Management, is also part on site.

This hi-tech version of a factory town will have its own transport links and a green environment designed to attract people to live and stay here.

This was a kind of brainstorming for governments living on a shoestring.

The UK's Universities Minister, David Willetts, called for a reduction in unnecessary regulation, which slowed down areas such as space research.

The French response has been to increase spending, launching a ￡30bn grand project to set up a series of "innovation clusters" - in which universities, major companies and research institutions are harnessed together to create new knowledge-based industries.

It's an attempt to replicate the digital launchpad of Silicon Valley in California. And in some ways these are the like mill towns of the digital age, clustered around science campuses and hi-tech employers.

But the knowledge economy does not always scatter its seed widely. When the US is talked about as an innovation powerhouse, much of this activity is based in narrow strips on the east and west coasts.

A map of Europe measuring the number of patent applications shows a similar pattern - with high concentrations in pockets of England, France, Germany and Finland.

There are also empty patches - innovation dust bowls - which will raise tough political questions if good jobs are increasingly concentrated around these hi-tech centres. The International Monetary Fund warned last week that governments must invest more in education to escape a "hollowing out" of jobs.

Speed of change

Jan Muehlfeit, chairman of Microsoft Europe, explained what was profoundly different about these new digital industries - that they expand at a speed and scale that would have been impossible in the traditional manufacturing industries.

Governments trying to respond to such quicksilver businesses needed to ensure that young people were well-educated, creative and adaptable, he said.

As an example of a success story, Mr Muehlfeit highlighted South Korea. A generation ago they deliberately invested heavily in raising education standards. Now, as a direct result of this upskilling, the West is importing South Korean cars and televisions, he said.

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The triangle of innovation, education and skills is of extreme importance, defining both the problem and the solution”

End Quote Jose Angel Gurria OECD secretary general Perhaps it is not a coincidence that South Korea's government has its own dedicated knowledge economy minister.

Robert Aumann, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, attending the OECD event, also emphasised this link between the classroom and the showroom. "How do you bring about innovation? Education, education, education," he said.

But this is far from a case of replacing jobs in old rusty industries with new hi-tech versions.

Gordon Day, president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the US-based professional association for technology, made the point that digital businesses might generate huge incomes but they might not employ many people. In some cases they might only have a payroll one tenth of a traditional company of a similar size.

It's an uncomfortable truth for governments looking for a recovery in the jobs market.

Degrees of employment

But standing still isn't an option.

Figures released from the OECD have shown how much the financial crisis has changed the jobs market.

Class of 2011 in Shanghai: China now has the second biggest share of the world's graduates

There were 11 million jobs lost, half of them in the United States, and with low-skilled workers and manufacturing the hardest hit. If those losses are to be recovered, it is going to be with higher-skilled jobs, many of them requiring degrees.

But graduate numbers show the shifting balance of power.

From a standing start, China now has 12% of graduates in the world's big economies - approaching the share of the UK, Germany and France put together. The incumbent superpower, the United States, still towers above with 26% of the graduates.

South Korea now has the sixth biggest share of the world's graduates, ahead of countries such as France and Italy.

It means that the US and European countries have to compete on skills with these rising Asian powers.

But the US university system remains a formidably well-funded generator of research. A league table, generated for the first time this month, looked at the global universities with research making the greatest impact - with US universities taking 40 out of the top 50 places.

Their wealth was emphasised this week with the announcement of financial figures from the two Boston university powerhouses, Harvard and MIT, which had a combined endowment of ￡27bn.

"The triangle of innovation, education and skills is of extreme importance, defining both the problem and the solution," said the OECD's secretary general, Jose Angel Gurria.

"It's a world of cut-throat competition. We lost so much wealth, we lost so many exports, we lost so much well-being, we lost jobs, job, jobs," he told delegates in Paris.

"We must re-boot our economies with a more intelligent type of growth."

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VIDEO: Build up a cash cushion, says Alvin Hall

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 10:22 GMT Help

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Climate 'could hit Canadian GDP'

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 23:19 GMT Current federal estimates say climate change will cost Canada about $5bn a year by 2020 Negative effects of climate change could cost Canada the equivalent of 1% of its GDP by 2050 and 2.5% by 2075, a government-backed report has said.

Damage could reach C$41bn ($20bn; ￡27bn), estimates say, depending on global emissions, the economy and population growth.

Higher temperatures could kill forests, flood low-lying coastal areas and spread disease, the report said.

The panel denied that Canada would gain from global warming.

"Climate change presents a growing, long-term economic burden for Canada," said Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).

'Strong, stable, responsible'

In a 162-page report, measures proposed included enhanced forest fire protection, pest control and an effort to foster the growth of climate-resilient trees.

The panel also recommended limiting construction in in low-lying coastal areas vulnerable to flooding, and developing technologies to limit pollution and slow ozone accumulation.

It said climate-related costs to Canada could increase from C$5bn in 2020 to between C$21bn and C$43bn by 2050.

These figures depended on co-ordinated global action to limit warming to 2C by 2050, the report said.

The findings of the panel were seized on by opposition politicians who believe the Conservative government should be doing more to confront the threat of global warming.

"Our coastal communities, our forestry industry, and the health of Canadians will all suffer unless we take action right now," said Laurin Liu, of the New Democrats, Canada's main opposition party.

"This out-of-touch government has produced no plan to deal with the impact of climate change," he added.

But Environment Minister Peter Kent said Canada needs "a strong, stable, environmentally responsible ... government to take care of the environment, and that is exactly what we are doing".

The report also said Canada had much to gain from an international, Kyoto-style treaty focussing on cutting carbon emissions beyond 2012.

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Zambia president nulls bank sale

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 17:10 GMT President Sata has begun a mass shake-out of political appointees inherited from his predecessor Newly-elected Zambian President Michael Sata has cancelled the controversial sale of one of the country's banks.

The $5.4bn sale of Finance Bank to FirstRand of South Africa was agreed under his predecessor, Rupiah Banda.

The bank had been seized from its shareholders in 2010 by Zambia's central bank, who alleged illegal and unsound practices.

Mr Sata, whose election ended the 20-year rule of the previous regime, has vowed to shake-up the political system.

After only a week in power, the president has already sacked the head of the central bank, as well as a string of other appointees of the previous government, including the head of the anti-corruption authority.

The original decision of the central bank to strip the bank's shareholders has also been overturned.

"There's no document of sale for Finance Bank and I am directing the ministry of finance to take the bank back to its owners immediately," said Mr Sata.

The bank's chairman, Rajan Mahtani, said he was grateful: "I am happy that Zambian investment has been restored to Zambian investors. It was all politically motivated."

FirstRand, a major South African bank, said it had received no formal notification of the decision and would continue to liaise with the Zambian central bank.

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Morning business round-up

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 11:04 GMT What made the business news in Asia and Europe this morning? Here's our daily business round-up:

Continue reading the main story Last Updated at 11:57 GMT

Market indexCurrent valueTrendVariation% variationStock markets across Europe have been boosted by expectations that EU leaders are about to act to ease the debt crisis.

The main markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris were about 2% up, after Hong Kong closed 5.6% higher.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a television interview that there were plans for co-ordinated action to recapitalise banks.

In the UK, the Bank of England has said it will inject a further ￡75bn into the UK economy through quantitative easing (QE).

The Bank has already pumped ￡200bn into the economy by buying assets such as government bonds, in an attempt to boost lending by commercial banks.

But this is the first time it has added to its QE programme since 2009. There have been recent calls for it to step in again to aid the fragile recovery.

The Bank also held interest rates at the record low of 0.5%.

European aircraft maker Airbus has struck a deal worth $9.5bn (￡6.2bn) with Australia's Qantas for 110 jets.

The order, said by Qantas to be the country's single largest aircraft purchase by units, will underpin the airline's expansion into Asia.

Qantas, which is launching a low-cost and a premium airline in Asia, is buying 78 Airbus 320neos and 32 A320s.

Eleswhere in Asia, there are reports that many Chinese private sector enterprises are facing bankruptcy because of credit tightening and an explosion in informal lending.

In the eastern city of Wenzhou, one-fifth of the city's 360,000 small and mid-sized businesses have stopped operating due to cash shortages, China's official news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.

Business headlines

And shares of Citic Securities have fallen on their debut at the Hong Kong stock exchange as market volatility continues to dent investor sentiment.

Its shares fell by as much as 10% in early trade to HK$11.90 from an offer price of HK$13.30.

Citic securities, China's largest listed brokerage had sold 995.3m shares raising HK$13.2bn ($1.7bn, ￡1.1bn).

Many Chinese firms have recently cancelled or postponed their proposed listing on the exchange.

Meanwhile, the state of the UK housing market has been under scrutiny. House prices are "lacking genuine direction", according to the Halifax, as it reported a 0.5% fall in values in September compared with August.

Prices were down 2.3% from a year ago, leaving the average home in the UK worth ￡161,132 ($249,560), the lender said.

The latest edition of Business Daily from the BBC World Service looks at the legacy of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers, who died on Wednesday aged 56.

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Olympic deals the company ' unsold '

October 6, 2011, last updated at 08: 37 GMT by Michael Hirst BBC 2012 almost two-thirds of the packages website for London 2012 can still sell companiesWith 300 days to go before London 2012, only a third of the tickets were sold on the site hosting the games.

But despite the financial downturn, the company with exclusive rights within Olympic venues hosting company remains bullish about the sales.

Ticketing prestige won a public tender by computerized Olympic Locog some 90,000 tickets-about one percent of the total allocation.

The British public must buy most tickets 6.6 m available by ballot.

However, more than 60% of the company's operations are still on offer.

The company did not disclose how much it paid for the tickets, nor the expected profit, citing commercially sensitive information.

And, like the London 2012 Olympics will be the first site hosting company, you can't compare the figures with previous games.

Redgrave Steve Sir said hosting VIP Olympics figaro behind other sporting events

But involved in the industry told the BBC that they would expect much more dimensional ratio of the packages were sold after almost 7 months of sales.

In a public ballot tickets acted outside his powers or more earlier this year, top-tier in any Olympic ceremonies tickets cost ￡ 2,012, with the best seats going for ￡ 750 Athletics events.

The cheapest cards cost ￡ 495 's luxury deals, while the most expensive suites ￡ 4,500 seats sold in batches of 10 or more secure ceremonies and athletics and cycling finals.

Events sell out

Corporate guests are the guests on the site can view:

"The best seats in the House of champagne lunch" Olympic events receptionFour-course canapé with as many "best of British" food and wines, Travelcards London transport, although hundreds of parking spaces will also be available

Olympic Park, the ticket is ￡ 7 luxury building. Pavilion three-story 5 m catering 3,000 guests at a time, only 70 metres (77 metres) from the main stadium.

Read on the Central story of 70 m (75 feet) from the Olympic Stadium cost ￡ 7. 5 m three-storey Pavilion with a massive glass atrium six restaurants catering for dinersIn 3,000 only 29 days before being placed in any well demolishedHospitality halls and Greenwich Park, North Greenwich arena, horses, dornei Eaton Wimbledon.

The economic depression to traditional customers in economics, he joined advertising by companies in areas like construction, energy resources, the company said.

While the company packages baoki women's final was the first to sell out, was also a demand for land in Wimbledon, rowing at Eton dornei coltori events in Greenwich, the company said.

Marketing Manager Tony Bernard Ticketing said he was sure that luxury to sell other packages like companies settled their budgets next year.

"We see significant growth in sales," he told the BBC. "Ballots tickets end so that people can know that if they want to go, there is only one way left to go."

Olympic opportunity

Prof Simon Chadwick, Director of Business Center for international sport at the University of Coventry, said that while the economic crisis hit the company's hosting industry in recent years, the exceptional nature of the London 2012 will allow him "above the prevailing economic conditions."

In a study commissioned by the luxury card, Prof Chadwick predicted companies buying hosting packages-with an estimated ￡ 45bn. 1-will return more than 12% on their investment.

But he warned this figure was based on factors such as language produced by the goodwill visit to strengthen business relationships.

Winner of gold medal Olympic champion Steve Redgrave, five-time Lord said London 2012 Olympic Games hosting a unique opportunity to put on a par with that of other international events.

"I've been invited to guest with other sponsors of the Olympic Games [the previous] after I retired, you looked after very well, but not quite as well as some other large sporting events," he said.

Prestige is one of three official providers for hosting packages, but has exclusive rights to the Olympics place for guests.

Thomas Cook paid by Locog over ￡ 20 m 200,000 tickets sold as part of the exclusive travel and accommodation packages, while sport Jet was bought 100,000 tickets offered as part of a five star deals for clients abroad.

Locog says revenue tickets will be hosting to give free tickets through a set of cards for the troops, the initiative to get set for school.

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Premier Foods in profit warning

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7 October 2011 Last updated at 07:14 GMT Mr Kipling is one of the eight "power brands" the group is investing in Premier Foods, the owner of brands such as Hovis, Bisto and Mr Kipling, has warned its full-year trading profit will fall below expectations.

The UK's biggest food manufacturer had been looking at a profit of between ￡214m and ￡232m.

But the company said current trading was "disappointing" and "significantly behind our expectations".

Sales in the third quarter fell 3.6% on a year ago, while the group's market share declined by 1.9%.

The group said it was in "constructive dialogue" with banks on refinancing.

New chief executive Michael Clarke has outlined five key priorities for the business in the short term.

These are agreeing a refinancing plan, improving sales and marketing, reducing the size of Premier's portfolio, reducing costs, and investing in eight "power brands" that they feel have the best growth prospects.

The eight brands are Ambrosia, Batchelor's, Bisto, Hovis, Lloyd Grossman, Mr Kipling, Oxo and Sharwood's.

Mr Clarke, who had previously been president of Kraft Foods Europe, took the helm at Premier Foods on 1 September.

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New £50 note set for 2 November

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 15:24 GMT Boulton (left) and Watt were two key figures in the Industrial Revolution The Bank of England has announced that the new-style ￡50 note will be introduced on 2 November.

The design of the new note was revealed in 2009 and features entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt, who pioneered the use of steam engines in textile manufacturing.

The Bank says the note will have a range of enhanced security features.

It will be the first time that two portraits will appear together on the reverse of one its banknotes.

The Boulton and Watt note will initially be circulated in tandem with the current ￡50 note featuring Sir John Houblon, the first governor of the Bank of England.

The Houblon note will eventually be withdrawn. The Bank will announce a withdrawal date in due course.

The design has seldom changed since it was first introduced in 1725. A white ￡50 was in use for more than 200 years until 1943.

There are 210 million ￡50 notes in circulation, valued at ￡10.5bn. That is 84% higher than 7 years ago.

The ￡20 is the most common Bank of England note in circulation, with 1.55 billion notes in circulation worth ￡31bn.

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Survey finds 28p beer price gap

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 23:08 GMT Even the cheapest pint of bitter in London costs more than ￡3, the survey says The cheapest pint of beer is 28p cheaper in pubs in the north of England compared with south-eastern hostelries, a survey suggests.

Some 650 pubs were asked for the cost of their cheapest pint of bitter by researchers for the Good Pub Guide.

They found that this pint cost ￡3.15 on average in the south-east of England and London, but ￡2.87 in Yorkshire and the North.

Campaigners say that overheads faced by pubs could explain the difference.

Rates and rents were often higher for London publicans and that could be reflected in the cost of a drink, said Tony Jerome, spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

Brewers

The 30th edition of the Good Pub Guide, published on Thursday, found that prices had risen by 7% over the last year - and that the north-south price divide had been in evidence for some time.

However, it suggested that pubs brewing their own ale were often charging less than ￡2.50 a pint, with scarcely any increase over the last year. A recent Camra survey claimed West Yorkshire had more breweries producing more types of beer than any other county in the UK.

Figures from the British Beer and Pub Association's Statistical Handbook claimed that the price differential for a pint in London and in the North East in 2010 was even greater - at 84p.

One brewer warned that the price of a pint could continue to rise

Paul Maloney, national officer of the GMB union, said: "Since the Good Pub Guide was first published, the Beer Orders were introduced in 1989. The aim was to foster competition to increase consumer choice and bring down prices.

"The opposite of this aim has been achieved. The average price for a pint of lager in Britain has risen by 80p higher than justified by inflation and changes in taxes in pubs, as property companies replaced brewers as owners."

Rising costs

Brewer Shepherd Neame said on Wednesday that beer prices would continue to rise in the coming months.

The brewer, which produces real ales such as Spitfire and Bishops Finger, said cereals such as barley were up to 30% more expensive than a year ago, while the price of glass has also increased, pushing up the cost of beer bottles and pint jars.

However, changes to the tax system have made some drinks cheaper.

Since 1 October, all beers with an alcohol content of 2.8% abv and below are being taxed less, to the equivalent of around 35p on every pint when compared with a typical 4.2% cent beer.

The Good Pub Guide also suggested that steak-in-ale pie was the most popular pub food.

Editor Fiona Stapley said that many pubs were diversifying, such as offering breakfasts and coffee mornings, to get through tough economic conditions.

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Japan outlines quake-tax increase

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 03:54 GMT Japan's rebuilding effort will take years to complete Japan's government and the ruling Democratic Party (DPJ) have agreed to temporarily raise taxes to pay for reconstruction after the deadly March earthquake.

The plan to raise 9.2tn yen ($120bn; ￡77bn) needs approval by the DPJ's coalition partner and the opposition party.

Officials said a further 2tn yen would be raised by selling government assets.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 16,000 people.

At the same time, thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed in the country's north-eastern coastal areas.

The new tax plan will increase taxes on incomes, companies, property and tobacco.

Corporate taxes will be raised starting next April and last three years, and income taxes will go up as of January 2012 for 10 years.

The tax on tobacco will be increased as of October 2012.

The Democratic Party of Japan also agreed to a third post-quake stimulus package of 12tn yen, government officials confirmed.

That plan must also now be negotiated and approved by opposition lawmakers.

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PM warns over eurozone break-up

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2 October 2011 Last updated at 12:27 GMT David Cameron warns that the UK cannot shield itself from the crisis in the eurozone Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that it would be "very bad" for the UK if the eurozone was to break up.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he said the debt crisis in the eurozone was "a threat not just to itself, but also a threat to the UK economy, and a threat to the world economy".

He reiterated that eurozone leaders had to take quick and decisive action.

Mr Cameron said that, as 40% of UK exports went to the eurozone, it could not shield itself from the problem.

The prime minister said the UK government had "a very clear view" of what needed to be done, and that it was pushing this with its partners in Europe and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said eurozone leaders had to strengthen the region's financial mechanisms, ensure the greater involvement of the IMF, and deal decisively with the high levels of sovereign debt.

Mr Cameron added: "Action needs to be taken in the next coming weeks to strengthen Europe's banks, to build the defences that the eurozone has, to deal with the problems of debts decisively."

He said these emergency measures were needed before any long-term plans of more economic coordination across the eurozone were introduced, such as a single tax system.

Greek fears

European stock markets again fell heavily on Friday due to concerns about the debt crisis in the eurozone.

Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule.It meant that for the three months from July to September, the main UK share index, the FTSE 100, recorded its biggest quarterly fall since 2002.

The concerns centre on Greece, the most indebted eurozone nation.

Greece needs its next 8bn euros (￡6.9bn; $10.9bn) instalment of European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout loans by the middle of this month to be able to continue paying its civil servants and teachers.

This tranche was delayed in September after EU, IMF and European Central Bank officials said the Greek government was not carrying out sufficient austerity measures.

The wider fear is that Greece will ultimately default on its debt payments, and of the knock-on effect this would have on banks across Europe which own Greek government bonds.

Some commentators also warn that Greece may ultimately have to leave the eurozone, plunging the region's economic and political systems into chaos.

Eurozone leaders and the IMF are now continuing to work on a solution to the debt crisis, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel due to speak again this week.

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VIDEO: Philippines aims to boost rice output

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7 October 2011 Last updated at 00:40 GMT Help

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VIDEO: 'Be curious and ask questions'

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AUDIO: Would you go off sick with stress?

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VIDEO: Citigroup under pressure from Asian regulators

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Credit agencies 'have failures'

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 17:10 GMT The report details a number of failures at the credit rating agencies The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has discovered "apparent failures" at 10 credit rating agencies.

It said it was concerned that the agencies - including Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's - were not making timely and accurate disclosures or managing conflicts of interest.

The SEC said it expected the agencies to "address the concerns".

Credit rating agencies have been criticised for their role in the financial crisis that started in 2007.

This is because a root cause of the crisis was the bad US mortgage debt that was resold around the world, debt that was given top credit ratings by the agencies.

The agencies were accused of having conflicts of interest, because they were paid by the banks that sold the debt.

'Monitoring progress'

The three largest credit rating agencies are S&P, Moody's and Fitch.

Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule.The SEC did not directly link specific failings to specific agencies, but it said that two of the big three did not have specific policies in place to manage conflicts of interest where they rated financial products issued by banks in which the agencies were large shareholders.

The SEC said that one of the three largest agencies was not correctly following rating methodologies.

It said the agency in question was slow to discover, disclose and fix the methodology errors, and may have let business interests influence its mistakes.

It added that its findings did not constitute a "material regulatory deficiency" at the SEC.

"We expect the credit rating agencies to address the concerns we have raised in a timely and effective way, and we will be monitoring their progress as part of our ongoing annual examinations," said Norm Champ, deputy director at the SEC's Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations.

US downgrade

The SEC was given more powers to regulate credit rating agencies in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was passed in July of last year.

The other credit rating agencies covered in the SEC's annual report are AM Best, DBRS, Egan-Jones, Japan Credit, Kroll Bond, Morningstar, and Rating and Investment Information.

S&P downgraded the US's credit rating in August by one notch from AAA to AA+.

Explaining the move, it said the government was not doing enough to reduce the country's budget deficit.

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Banking on technology to stop the rogues

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 23:05 GMT By Michael Millar Business reporter, BBC News WATCH: Risk averse: Used correctly, technology could help to avoid losses like UBS trader Kweku Adoboli's $2.3bn

When news broke that Swiss investment bank UBS had lost $2.3bn (￡1.5bn) through alleged rogue trading, the shock was matched by an equally exasperated response of "not again!" as another financial risk management disaster hit the headlines.

After all, not only did the suspected trader, Kweku Adoboli, work in a 'Delta 1' team - the same desk that the biggest ever rogue trader, Jerome Kerviel of Societe Generale, once plied his trade - but the world continues to reel from a global financial crisis which itself stemmed from a monumental failure of risk management amongst financiers.

It leaves a sceptical public scratching its collective head and wondering just what needs to happen for risk to be kept under control in the financial sector.

It might sound surprising but there is no question whether managing risk is a central obligation for financial firms.

"Under UK company law all companies are required to have a duty of care towards shareholders assets and that includes risk management," explains Prof Brian Scott-Quinn from Henley Business School.

"Under FSA rules they have additional responsibilities, they have to take reasonable care to ensure that any activities in control functions [essentially roles with 'significant influence'] are properly controlled," he adds.

But it is no mean feat to do this; across August an average of 880,000 trades were completed each day on the London Stock Exchange alone, with an average daily value of ￡6.17bn.

Financial firms have back-office functions that are there to confirm transactions are above board, but such is the volume that the only way they can keep up is with increasingly advanced technology.

Technology kicks in

Mat Newman is vice-president at SunGard; its software processes millions of transactions for its financial sector clients every day.

Adaptiv is one of Sunguard's risk management software options

"The interconnectedness of what banks are trying to do across different geographies, different time zones and different trading desks, and asset classes is just immense these days," he says.

"One of the key things banks are faced with as a challenge is how to bring this together, this vast amount of data and make sense of it at the same time - so they can see the wood for the trees."

Without such technology companies don't have a hope of gathering the information they need, analysing it and presenting it to the right people at the right time.

"These days you have systems that will monitor your current positions against those risks and you have a whole series of bells and whistles that will flag not just if you breach those limits but if you come close to those limits," says Mark Hanney, CEO of Valbury Capital stockbrokers.

This is crucial for Valbury Capital, which takes trades from clients and then passes them on to the markets, theoretically running a no-risk business model.

Mark Hanney: "You have a whole series of bells and whistles"

"If a client is trading with us they put up a certain amount of margin, and if that margin is insufficient for their positions then our systems can automatically stop them out," Mr Hanney explains.

"Those systems can apply internally as well, so if a trader goes beyond a certain position then those systems are able, once they've breached those limits, to automatically close the position out."

The "bells and whistles" that flag up problems come in all shapes and sizes, dependent on the technology a firm opts for.

"Exceptions can be flagged graphically on summary dashboards with a number of graphical metaphors employed in the form of traffic lights, dials and graphs," says Daren Cox, CEO of Project Brokers, which supplies data analysis tools to investment banks.

He says that graphics rather than tables of data are often favoured simply because they mean that potential problems are easier to spot.

There are certain key areas of risk on which the technology is often brought to bear.

These include liquidity risk (how much cash you have and whether you can meet your obligations), market risk (what's going on out there in the markets) and one of the biggest of all, credit risk - basically how much people owe you and whether they are going to be able to pay it back.

Abusing the system

With the key flash points picked out and technology that can make a decision on whether a deal is a good idea in less than 10 milliseconds, the obvious question is why things seem to go wrong so regularly?

"One of the main problems these days - as it was in 2008 - is not the system but its operators," says Michel van Leeuwen, CEO of financial compliance consultancy, IMS.

"Their intelligence, experience, vigilance, their clout in the hierarchy and the simple analogy of 'having a clock' is irrelevant if you never look at it or don't look at it frequently."

Technology is also open to manipulation if you know how.

"Part of the problem is the rogue traders we have seen in the past have come from a back office function and they know these processes very well," says Mat Newman of SunGard.

"What's quite common in the City is to grow your own talent from the back office and bring it through to the front office."

Mr van Leeuwen calls this "akin to inviting the cat into the pigeon coop".

"It would be wise not to hire a trader that used to be a... back office employee," he says.

"The imperative, regulator imposed, 'Chinese wall' imposed in process and procedures, doesn't seem to have made it to the frontal lobe of HR or the heads of trading."

Positive thinking

There is a temptation with financial crisis in the air and an angry public after blood to overemphasise the down side of the risks financial institutions take.

This Algorithmics software shows where the trade has failed on a graph

But John Macdonald, executive vice-president at financial software firm Algorithmics, says risk management technology should not just be a way to stamp down on transgressors.

"Any one transaction can be analysed by one individual but it may take some time - if you have a customer you provide banking services to they don't want to wait two or three days for a decision," he says.

"Businesses need to be able to have access to funding and making the right decisions helps the economy grow.

"That's all part of risk management - being able to measure and then decide what level of risk you decide to take because you make a return on the capital you use by taking risk."

Of course there will be those that argue that on occasion slowing everything down a bit and taking a day or two rather than a thousandth of a second to mull a deal over might be a good thing.

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Amazon unveils Kindle Fire tablet

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 16:42 GMT Amazon boss Jeff Bezos unveils the Kindle Fire

Amazon has unveiled a colour tablet computer called the Kindle Fire.

The $199 (￡130) device will run a modified version of Google's Android operating system.

Until now, the company has limited itself to making black and white e-readers, designed for consuming books and magazines.

As well as targeting Apple's iPad, Amazon is likely to have its sights on rival bookseller US Barnes & Noble, which already has a colour tablet.

The Kindle Fire will enter a hugely competitive market, dominated by Apple's iPad.

Amazon will be hoping to leverage both the strength of the Kindle brand, built up over three generations of its popular e-book reader, and its ability to serve up content such as music and video.

In recent years, the company has begun offering downloadable music for sale, and also has a streaming video-on-demand service in the United States. Those, combined with its mobile application store, give it a more sophisticated content "ecosystem" than most of its rivals.

Continue reading the main story 7" IPS (in-plane switching) display1024 x 600 resolutionCustomised Google Android operating system$199 (￡130)Weighs 413 grammesDual core processor8GB internal storage"It's the price and the backup services that make it really exciting," said Will Findlater, editor of Stuff magazine.

"Content is the big differentiator. It's what every other platform has been lacking, except the iPad."

Amazon's decision to opt for a 7" screen, as opposed to the larger 10" displays favoured by many rival manufacturers was a cause for concern for Ovum analyst Adam Leach.

"This screen size has undoubtedly helped them achieve a lower price point for the device but so far this form factor has not been popular with consumers, we shall see if this is related to other aspects of those devices other than its screen size. "

Digital dividend Digital content has already proved itself to be a money-spinner for Amazon.

Although the company has never released official sales figures for the Kindle, it did state - in December 2010 - that it was now selling more electronic copies of books than paper copies.

Its US rival, Barnes & Noble, has also enjoyed success with its Nook devices.

In October 2010, the company unveiled the Nook Color, which also runs a version of Android, albeit with lower hardware specs than many fully featured tablets.

While the Nook Color is largely focused on book and magazine reading, some users have managed to unlock its wider functionality and install third-party apps.

Amazon has dropped the keyboard from some of its Kindles in favour of touch

The Kindle Fire's $199 (￡130) price tag undercuts the Nook Color by $50 (￡30) and is significantly cheaper than more powerful tablets from Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others.

It is due to go on sale on 15 November in the US, although global release dates are currently unavailable.

Price cuts

Alongside the Kindle Fire, Amazon also announced a refresh of its Kindle e-readers.

The entry level device has had its keyboard removed and will now sell for $79, down from $99. Amazon UK announced that the new version would retail at ￡89.

A version with limited touchscreen capability, known as the Kindle Touch, will sell for $99. Only the US pricing has been announced so far.

"These are premium products at non premium prices," said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. "We are going to sell millions of these."

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Making Olympic technology work

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 23:07 GMT Weighty task: Making the technology for the London Olympics work is a "huge responsibility" says chief integrator Michele Hyron Each week we ask high-profile technology decision-makers three questions.

Michele Hyron: Viewers will be able to choose which competition, nation or athlete they want to follow

This week it is Michele Hyron of Atos,?chief integrator for the Olympic Games in London. She is responsible for leading the consortium of IT partners to design, build and operate the massive IT infrastructure that will support the London 2012 Games.

Ms Hyron leads a team that include employees from Atos and technology partners LOCOG, as well as volunteers.

She already has nearly 10 years of Olympic Games experience, serving as operations manager at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, integration manager at Athens 2004 and quality manager at the winter Games in Salt Lake City 2002.

What's your biggest technology problem right now?

As the chief integrator for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I suppose that people would expect me to have a long list of problems. After all, if the IT doesn't work, then effectively the Games can't take place.

It is a huge responsibility, and one that everyone takes extremely seriously, but this is now my third Olympic Games and Atos's sixth.

While the technologies advance every time and we are faced with fresh problems as we integrate new applications, we have developed a robust process that ensures that we test everything in the lab over and over again.

By the time we get to the Games themselves, we have covered an extensive testing program.

In fact, our work is analogous to training pilots in aircraft simulators.

We throw every possible scenario at the IT teams - from the failure of the communications network to someone accidentally pulling out a plug - and ensure that we can recover from these without anyone at the Games or watching on TV noticing that a problem has even occurred.

The most challenging aspect of the job, though, is undoubtedly the massive increases in the amount of data which has to be organised and channelled with split-second timing.

It is estimated that between the dawn of civilisation - some four to five thousand years ago - and 2003, mankind had created about five exabyte's of data, which is 5bn gigabytes.

Across the world, we now create that amount of data every two days and the volume of business data is doubling every 18 months.

The Olympic Games is no exception. For Beijing, we produced 50% more data than we handled at the Athens Games.

The London 2012 Games will see us process significantly more information than we had at Beijing, as we meet the demands of sports fans worldwide for the latest information on their favourite events and sports stars, and deliver this information via broadcasters, internet and mobile.

What's the next big tech thing in your industry?

Atos is a global business with a presence in more than 42 countries and a workforce of 78,500 business technologists. In many respects our industry covers virtually every aspect of IT and every industry sector.

However, from my personal perspective it is the magic that we can now work with metadata to create a completely different TV experience for watching sport which is the most exciting.

We will have the ability to offer viewers the chance to choose exactly which competition, nation or athlete they want to follow, and enable them to follow more than one sporting event simultaneously.

This digital quality service will be offered over fixed and mobile devices, and is designed to allow sports fan to watch events that aren't even being broadcast on a regular programme.

So unlike the type of technologies people are used to today, with a personal video recorder (PVR) integrated into a set-top box allowing them to select when they view broadcasts, this new approach makes the viewer the director, selecting what they watch, when and from what angle.

Our approach incorporates face-recognition technologies, and this means that a viewer can either have automatic selection of the best shot or a recommendation that they can accept or reject.

The amount of data that has to been managed to offer this service is staggering, and by 2014 we estimate that more than 90% of all data traffic in the world will be video content.

It will be the equivalent of 32 million people streaming Avatar in 3D continuously every month.

What's the biggest technology mistake you've ever made - either at work or in your own life?

As a complete beginner in software development, at the start of my career, I enjoyed developing a program in Assembler.

I made it as compact as possible, playing with the stack and using other tricks. It was great fun!

What I didn't appreciate at the time was that this piece of code was completely unmaintainable.

My colleagues were still blaming me for this work years after I moved on to other things.

It was a really good lesson so early on in my career, and taught me the importance of looking ahead and appreciating the impact of what I do, not just tomorrow but years into the future.

It also taught me that while playing with software is really fun - and it is - delivering programs that are robust and practical is what counts.

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IMF warns on drastic budget cuts

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 14:41 GMT Changing economic times will mean a change in economic policy, the IMF said Europe's stronger economies should avoid imposing drastic budget cuts at the expense of growth, a report by the International Monetary Fund has said.

If things worsen in the UK, Germany or France, they should "consider delaying" cuts, because they can borrow "at historically low" interest rates.

The IMF also warned that a recession in Europe in 2012 could not be ruled out.

Separately, a Markit PMI study said the eurozone's service sector shrank for the first time in two years last month.

The IMF's warning came in its latest 100-page report on the economic outlook for Europe.

"Finding a durable solution to the euro area sovereign crisis has become more than overdue," the IMF said in its report.

"(This) will require some difficult decisions to improve crisis management and a demonstration of unity behind the project of economic and monetary union that will convince markets.

"The pursuit of nominal deficit targets should not come at the expense of risking a widespread contraction in economic activity," the IMF said.

"If (economic) activity were to undershoot current expectations and risk a period of stagnation or contraction, countries that face historically low yields (for example, Germany and the UK) should also consider delaying some of their planned consolidation."

The IMF's Europe director, Antonio Borges, said that Europe had edged closer to recession. "We still predict growth in 2012, but very modest," he said.

But if economies go into reverse "all those countries with fiscal leeway might want to consider" changes in fiscal policy, he said.

'Spreading malaise'

The weakness of the eurozone's economic recovery was underlined in data from the latest Markit/CIPS Services Purchasing Managers' Index.

For September, the index fell to 48.8, from 51.5 in August, its lowest reading since July 2009. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Markit said that a service sector downturn that began in smaller members of the 17-nation eurozone had spread throughout the bloc.

"The malaise is spreading to the core, where surging rates of expansion earlier in the year have turned rapidly into contraction in Germany and only very modest growth in France," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

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VIDEO: Samsung's smartphone makes inroads

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7 October 2011 Last updated at 05:06 GMT Help

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Russia bleeds cash as investors pull out

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 23:00 GMT By Natalia Golysheva BBC World Service Political turbulence has spooked investors in Russia Five months ago the Russian stock market was among the world's top performer, peaking after a steady rise in share prices that had lasted since early 2009.

Since then, the market has taken a tumble, with Russia's Micex index of leading shares losing more than a quarter of its value and the RTS index of 50 Russian shares falling by some 40% to levels not seen since this time last year.

According to the Russian government, investors are pulling back because they have been spooked by falling oil prices and global economic turmoil.

But many observers are instead blaming internal political turmoil for the retrenchment, which last year saw capital flight to the tune of some $30bn (￡19bn) - only to accelerate this year, with some $31bn leaving the country during the first six months alone.

Wheeling cash out of Russia has become a sport shared by wealthy Russians and foreign investors alike, with one Russian opposition party leader, Boris Nemtsov, predicting that capital flight could rise to $100bn this year.

The capital flight is matched by a brain drain as the country's much needed skilled and educated people head for better opportunities abroad.

A recent survey suggests more than a fifth of Russia's adult population would like to emigrate, compared with 7% in 2007.

'Pillar of stability'

This week's ousting of Russia's long-standing finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, did little to mollify neither the people nor the markets.

Mr Kudrin eventually lost his battle with Russia's leaders

So the Russian rouble, already weakened by the turmoil in the world economy, has plunged and is trading around its lowest level against the US dollar since May 2009.

Mr Kudrin's main cheerleaders, Western investors and analysts, have long applauded the way his conservative budget policies have helped restore the country's financial health in the wake of the global financial crisis.

To them, his departure is seen as a deep blow to Russia's economy.

"The surprise factor of Kudrin leaving is bigger than the nomination of Putin to be the next president," according to Roland Nash, senior partner of Verno Capital.

"Kudrin personifies fiscal stability in Russia. It was really his big success that we've had this fiscal stability now for more than 10 years - him and the oil price.

Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, a private-sector think tank in London, agrees.

"It's difficult to see how Kudrin's resignation can be anything but market-negative," he says.

Economic differences

Mr Kudrin's departure after 11 years in the job could not have been announced at a worse time, coming hot on the heels of President Dmitry Medvedev announcing that that he will swap jobs with Prime Minster Vladimir Putin in March of next year.

Investors are nervous as share prices, oil prices and the rouble all fall sharply

The Russian media initially speculated that Mr Kudrin may have openly rebelled to bolster his own ambitions to become Russia's next prime minister.

Mr Kudrin has accused President Medvedev of economic mismanagement and excessive spending.

In particular, in the latest of the two politicians many disagreements over economic policy, Mr Kudrin has been vocal in his opposition to President Medvedev's efforts to raise military spending by some 2.1 trillion over three years, insisting the plan would create "additional risks for both the budget and the economy".

President Medvedev has been dismissive of Mr Kudrin's criticism, insisting Russia "cannot avoid defence spending worthy of the Russian Federation, which is not some 'banana republic' but a very large country, a permanent member of the UN Security Council that possesses nuclear weapons".

In the end, the conflict came to a head with President Medvedev telling Mr Kudrin to step down after the rebellious finance minister said he would be unwilling to work with the next prime minister.

And if investors were concerned about Mr Kudrin's departure, then they were far from mollified by the man Prime Minister Putin appointed to succeed him.

Mr Putin described the new acting finance minister, the rarely heard of former deputy Anton Siluanov, as a "good, strong specialist", which investors immediately took to mean he would tow the party line and as such be a safe bet for the Russian leaders during the upcoming election season.

Optimistic assumptions

Mr Siluanov's first challenge will come next week, when Russia's government will have to submit its 2012 budget for approval by parliament.

It will be a challenge because the budget is calculated on a rather optimistic assumption, namely that price of oil will rise to $116 (￡72)per barrel next year.

According to the ousted Mr Kudrin, Russia needs oil to average $112 in 2012 to balance its budget.

However, the price of Russia's main export, Urals crude oil, has recently tumbled and is currently trading close to the $105-a-barrel level.

If the price of oil fails to bounce back, then Mr Kudrin will be proven right about the need to curb spending and plan for a future when Russia's earnings will be much lower than they have been in recent years.

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Sales for Baker Greggs

October 6, 2011, last updated 09: 41 GMT Greggs has challenged the United Kingdom market downturn Greggs Baker reported an increase in sales in the third quarter despite the economic depression.

13 weeks to October 1, total sales increased 5.4%, as for like growth of 0.8%.

The company said it continued to see good growth in sales breakfast, including the launch of the all-fair coffee shops.

During weeks 39 year financial, Greggs opened shops in 66 and 13, making the net increase of 53.

Slowdown defied

Analysts believe that Greggs has defied the downturn with relatively low transaction values its in its branches.

There are shops 1,376 across United Kingdom, selling six million customers a week.

She plans to open a total of 80 new stores by the end of its financial year.

Administrative Declaration, he said: "we remain confident the chances of the group, our expectations for the year remained unchanged.

"Looking further forward until 2012, there are signs of easing inflation rate price goods in some areas, with the notable exception of energy."

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VIDEO: Will China help at-risk Italy?

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 00:32 GMT Help

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World pays tribute to Steve Jobs

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 03:12 GMT Consumers paid tribute to ''a man of great perspective''

Apple's corporate statement announcing the death of 56-year old co-founder Steve Jobs was brief: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

Many technology experts, industry peers and other admirers have been quick to add their own tributes.

"Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

"By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity.

"By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.

"Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.

"Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely.

"Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives."

"All of us would be touched every day by products that he was the creative genius behind, so this is very sad news and my condolences go to his family and friends."

"Tonight, America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world for generations to come.

"Again and again over the last four decades, Steve Jobs saw the future and brought it to life long before most people could even see the horizon.

"In New York City's government, everyone from street construction inspectors to NYPD detectives have harnessed Apple's products to do their jobs more efficiently and intuitively."

Steve Jobs is credited with revolutionising the way people listen to music

"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

"His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined.

"Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started."

"He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it."

"VISIONARIES are always called CRAZY in the beginning. A VISIONARY sees things that everybody else says is IMPOSSIBLE, sees a World that People can't invision (sic) - MAC, IPOD, IPAD, IPHONE, ITUNES and PIXAR. I have nothing but Love for Mr. Jobs and Apple, they have always given me and my films L-O-V-E."

"'Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose', as Steve Jobs said in 2005."

"Steve lived the California Dream every day of his life and he changed the world and inspired all of us."

"Thank you for revolutionising the way we listen to music. Your vision will not be forgotten."

Industry colleagues and rivals flocked to pay their compliments for and respect to Steve Jobs, including the founder of Twitter, Dick Costolo, AOL's founder, Steve Case, the chief executive of Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes, the chief executive of Dell, Michael Dell and the chairman of the New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger.

Other tributes (via Twitter) included praise for the way Steve Jobs changed the technological landscape:

"Thank you, Steve Jobs, for making technology a delight to use, instead of a necessary evil."

"The world pauses their iPods and rushes to their MacBooks and iPhones to confirm the news."

"3 Apples changed the World, 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton and the 3rd was offered to the World half bitten by Steve Jobs."

Apple fans were invited to share their thoughts, memories and condolences by sending messages to rememberingsteve@apple.com.

And social networking groups were calling for iPhone vigils in public parks across the United States.

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US Senate backs currency debate

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 01:53 GMT Many argue that the Chinese yuan is undervalued, giving China a massive trade advantage The US Senate has voted in favour of debating laws which could pressure China to let its currency rise in value.

The bill would give the US government the power to add tariffs to goods imported from countries deemed to be undervaluing their currencies to boost exports.

Some politicians and trade groups say China uses its currency in such a way.

The Chinese government said that it "firmly opposed" the bill.

It accused the US of using the "so-called currency imbalance as an excuse to upgrade the exchange rate further, to take protectionist measures, [which is] a serious breach of World Trade Organisation rules, [and] seriously interfere with economic and trade relations".

Though the bill does not specifically mention China, it would enable the US government to put punitive duties on a country with a misaligned currency.

'Unfair competitive advantage'

Unlike most other major currencies, China does not allow its currency, the yuan, to float freely on exchange markets. Academics have argued it could be undervalued by as much as 20% - 40% compared to the US dollar.

Continue reading the main story

Using anti-dumping and countervailing duties to address currency valuation is misguided and could lead to a trade war”

End Quote Stephanie Lester Retail Industry Leaders Association China has been accused of keeping the value of its currency artificially low in a bid to make its exports cheaper and more competitive than rivals. At the same time, it also makes goods from abroad more expensive for the Chinese buyers than products manufactured at home.

Many US politicians have said that China's currency policies have not only hurt US businesses but have also had an impact in the job market.

"My colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, agree that China's deliberate actions to devalue its currency give its goods an unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace," Senate majority leader Harry Reid said.

"In the last decade alone, we have lost 2 million American jobs to China because of a trade deficit fuelled by currency manipulation," he added.

The debate on the value of the yuan and its effect on the US economy has been fanned further by a slowdown in the US and fears that it may be slipping into a recession.

At the same time, a high rate of unemployment has also become a huge problem for the authorities as they try to kick start growth in the world's biggest economy.

Unilateral approach? Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule.The US and China's other trading partners have been putting pressure on China to let its currency appreciate. While Beijing has allowed its currency to rise in the past 12 months, its critics have said that the appreciation has been too little.

The yuan has gained almost 5% against the US dollar during the period and over 8% against the euro.

However, China has maintained that a sudden rise in the yuan's value would not only hurt its export sector but also have a detrimental effect on its overall economy.

Critics of the currency bill warned that any such law may negate efforts for a cordial agreement with China.

The Emergency Committee for American Trade said the bill was "a highly damaging unilateral approach that will undermine broader efforts to address China's currency undervaluation".

Others have argued that the US has created its own economic problems and that antagonising the Chinese could potentially provoke a trade war which would be even worse for the economy.

"Using anti-dumping and countervailing duties to address currency valuation is misguided and could lead to a trade war," said Stephanie Lester of The Retail Industry Leaders Association.

"Sparking a trade war with China - one of our largest and fastest growing export markets - could have disastrous consequences for American companies and workers, and for our economic recovery," she added.

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VIDEO: Eurozone crisis sparks fears for Dexia

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 22:15 GMT Help

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VIDEO: 'Too much euphoria' over Asian economy

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Asian nations face huge unresolved challenges - of poverty, poor governance and environmental degradation.

Stephen Sackur spoke to Rajat Nag, Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank about inequality and governance in Asia, and asked whether there is too much optimism about Asian economy growth.

You can watch the full interview on Wednesday 5 October on BBC World News at 03:30 GMT, 08:30 GMT, 15:30 GMT and 20:30 GMT.

And on BBC News Channel at 04.30 BST on Wednesday repeated on Thursday 00.30 BST.

Find out who is coming up on the programme by following us on Twitter.

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Trend in EU economic bucking of Estonia

October 6, 2011, last updated: 57 GMT by Charlotte Ashton, World Tallin Tallinn, Estonia-Skype, as well as other companies in emerging technologies now has the fastest economic growth in the European Union, so what does Estonia just when other countries are so many economic problems?

Ave Maria Ounapuu enjoys boom of Estonia.

Organic cosmetics company established JOIK four years ago to take its business to making candles.

She has received grants from the European Union for machinery and marketing help, but says the business agenda of the Government of Estonia helped too: "it was pretty easy.

"There was no problem with the regulations, even finding products to sell went smoothly enough.

"You can report your taxes online so you don't need to spend valuable time to forms and things. We don't have our growth to the Government, but they will not put any obstacles in our way. "

Currently, JOIK employs four people, was moved to a larger space. It has an annual turnover of 250,000 euros, on export to countries bordering the Baltic.

Ave Maria Ounapuu says the Government of Estonia has set up an independent business with ease

This is a similar story of Estonia as a whole, as the country has a long way since she joined the EU in 2004.

The initial flow of credit to the construction boom that led to high House, but the bubble burst in 2008, when the country found itself the economic doldrums, it had to smarten up their act.

Labour laws were liberalised, increased retirement age and public spending cut. But the tax remained low to encourage business; Entrepreneurs were fashionable.

Estonia GDP grew at 8.5% in the first quarter of this year, the fastest growth of all the EU economy. One of the biggest growth areas in it technology.

Estonia exports mainly to the EU, but exports of its main markets, Finland, Sweden are distorted

Skype Online software used by people 200 m each month to make free or cheap video phone calls over the Internet, has its development, on the outskirts of Tallinn.

The software was invented in Tallinn of Dane, Swede and Estonians.

Stan Tankivi, head of Skype Estonia, says: "you can show the country of Estonia itself as a witness. It regained independence 20 years ago, the company generally or culture here has very little hierarchy.

"It is very small and nimble, that sort of environment is very positive for entrepreneurship".

In January, Estonia joined the euro. Stability of the currency result, along with those low corporate taxes (zero profits reinvested), this tiny nation of 1.3 m investment very attractive. Exports are soaring, up 53% last year. This summer came the euro 1bn for the first time.

But 70 percent of exports go to EU countries, growth is deteriorating steadily and its two main export markets, Finland and Sweden.

How is the economy of Estonia so fragile?

It is still a net recipient of EU money but its contribution to financial stability facility means that European companies is decreasingly profitable. Contribution of Euro 2bn represents one third of the annual budget.

"We were invited to a wedding but turned out to be a funeral," says Anders Arrak, Estonian who has entrepreneurial University apply.

Read on the Central story

of course we understand what the meaning of the credit crisis, but in Estonia is not a hot topic for us "

end quote Andrus Ansip Estonian Prime ??????"??? us a lot of money from the EU.

"We have already renovated churches and roads. But now we are being asked to pay money to improve the errors made in the past, Greece and the countries of the eurozone.

"It makes sense. We have to invest in the future of Estonia. "

But the Prime Minister of Estonia Andrus Ansip stay safer will continue its growth: "of course we all need to be concerned but our banking sector is doing well, our commercial banks are well capitalised and correspond to the reserves.

"The State the money are the best of all the European Union because we have still 12% GDP reserves.

"Yes, of course, we understand what the meaning of the credit crisis, but in Estonia is not a hot topic for us."

Mr Ansip thank him an erection activities explaining why Estonia, a poor cousin Mizrahi, fresh out of troubled times himself, bail out its richer southern cousins.

Drinkers in the lounge of their obligation to contribute to the Museum say bailouts EU

But support for the European Union young Estonians soothes the unwavering with a glass of wine in one of the new trendy bars, lounge Tallinn Museum.

Memories of Soviet occupation, which ended just 20 years ago, are still fresh among the younger generation.

Ali is a teacher at the school who says it fully supports Estonia's contribution to the bailout.

"I don't even understand what the discussion. We already received money from the EU now is a good thing because ultimately we are in a position to help someone else. I think it's only fair. "

The Museum lounge Manager, ARGO, agrees. "An overview of Estonia in the West now, only the West," he says.

And Estonia are ready to pay the price.

The world tonight is broadcast weekdays on BBC Radio 4: 00 p.m. BST.

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