Headlines

Greece’s parliament early Sunday approved the country’s 2016 budget, which projects a flat-lining economy for 2015 and a mild contraction for the next year but foresees billions in fresh austerity measures, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a vote after a five-day debate in Greece’s 300-seat parliament, the budget--which traditionally is seen as a vote of confidence--was supported by the 153 lawmakers of the coalition government. The budget is the first to be put before parliament by the Syriza-led government, which won national elections in January and again in September.

Central banks should press ahead with plans to tighten monetary policy and not let market volatility sway their judgment, the Bank for International Settlements has said ahead of the expected first rate rise by the US Federal Reserve in nine years, the Financial Times reported. The warning comes amid signs of growing investor alarm at the riskier end of the US corporate bond market, with borrowing costs for the lowest-rated companies climbing to their highest level since the financial crisis.

President Vladimir Putin’s annual address to Russia’s parliament last week began with the expected rallying call to fight Islamist terrorism, and praise for the country’s military in Syria. He threatened to make Turkey “regret more than once” shooting down a Russian bomber last month. But then Mr Putin devoted much of his speech to domestic issues — above all, Russia’s growing economic difficulties, the Financial Times reported. Such attention is welcome, though words are not enough.

Spain's industry minister criticised energy and engineering group Abengoa on Friday for handing out multi-million euro payoffs to executives in the months before the indebted company entered into pre-insolvency talks with creditors, Reuters reported. Jose Manuel Soria said executives at Abengoa, which could face Spain's largest-ever bankruptcy, had not invested wisely, given the financial cost of the group's accumulated debt was far greater than its cash flow and income.

An IT distribution company that has operated for almost 20 years has collapsed into voluntary administration, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Altech Computers was established in 1997 and has offices and warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Hong Kong. The business featured in BRW’s Fast 100 for several years between 2004 and 2006, coming in at number 100 in 2005 with turnover of more than $63 million for the 2004-05 financial year. Altech Computers was also named Microsoft’s Australian distribution partner of the year in 2008.

Korean Company Sambo Motors Co. Ltd has taken control of German tuning company Carlsson, GTSpirit.com reported. The Korean company has promised further investment for the Saarland Merzig company and has sought to reassure Carlsson’s employees that their jobs are secure. Sambo was one of four bidders to made a binding offer during the insolvency process. Carlsson entered into liquidation in April this year following a poor year of sales.

Workers across Greece walked off their jobs on Thursday, heeding a call by labor unions to join the second general strike in three weeks to protest a new round of austerity measures, the International New York Times reported. The 24-hour walkout shut down public services, disrupted public transportation, left ferries moored in ports, closed schools and forced hospitals to function with reduced staffs.

Spanish power and engineering group Abengoa, in pre-insolvency talks to avoid becoming Spain's largest ever bankruptcy, has stakes in almost 900 subsidiaries and partnerships, a report said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The complexity of Abengoa highlights the difficulty faced by creditors of the Seville-based renewable energy firm to understand the extent of its debts, one of the first tasks they face as they embark on restructuring talks.

Some of Grupo BTG Pactual SA’s fixed-income funds have lost about half of their net assets in the week that followed the arrest of the firm’s billionaire founder, Andre Esteves. Clients pulled a net 6.7 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in the week after Esteves was jailed as part of a corruption probe in Brazil, according to the latest available data compiled by Bloomberg. That represents more than half of the combined net assets of the 10 fixed-income funds listed on the bank’s website, which totaled 12.7 billion reais the day before the arrest.

Central bankers have long talked about the problem of the “zero lower bound.” That’s the idea that interest rates can’t be set below zero. It is an important concept because it would mean there is a limit on how much an economy can be stimulated using monetary policy, the International New York Times reported. The last few years have exposed a problem with this idea. It now looks as if the zero lower bound isn’t a bound. And it isn’t at zero. That was made clear by a decision from the European Central Bank on Thursday.