Headlines

Romania's prime minister quit on Monday after a series of at-times violent nationwide protests against budget cuts and declining living standards, as deepening political turmoil fueled by Europe's prolonged economic crisis spreads across the Continent, The Wall Street Journal reported. Thousand of Romanians have taken to the wintry streets of Bucharest and other cities in recent weeks to vent their anger at the center-right administration of Emil Boc, who has implemented tough austerity measures in an effort to shore up state finances.

Kazakhstan's BTA Bank , majority owned by the country's sovereign wealth fund, on Monday announced the formation of a creditors' steering committee to discuss debt restructuring after the bank defaulted on its $2 billion Eurobond, Reuters reported. The bank, which is restructuring debt for the second time in three years, said the steering committee would comprise holders of senior as well as surbordinated debt, Recovery Notes, discount notes as well as trade finance.

British retailers suffered their second weakest January since records started in 1995 as shoppers reined in spending after splashing out on December discounts, a British Retail Consortium survey showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The value of retail sales on a like-for-like basis - a measure favoured by equity analysts - was 0.3 percent lower on the year after a 2.2 percent rise the previous month. Total sales, which include new floor space and are closer to the measure used in Britain's official statistics, grew 2.1 percent, down from a 4.1 percent annual rise.

Greek premier Lucas Papademos held last-minute talks on Sunday with international lenders on wage and pension cuts amid fears that political leaders may reject a second €130bn bail-out and plunge the country into a chaotic default, the Financial Times reported. Evangelos Venizelos, finance minister, said “It’s not an impasse but there are problems for the Greek side” over terms of a medium-term package being negotiated with the so-called “troika” – representatives of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Greece may breathe a sigh of relief when—or if—it finally completes its long-delayed debt restructuring next week. But the plodding negotiations have been bad news for another country: Portugal, whose creditors fear they may be force-fed the same difficult debt restructuring terms that are on the table for the Greeks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday sought to assuage concerns over Chinese investment in Europe, saying China has no intention to "buy" the continent, The Wall Street Journal reported. At a business forum in the southern province of Guangdong during a state visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr. Wen said China is "willing to cooperate with Europe to fight the current crisis." "Some people say this means China wants to buy Europe. This is a concern and doesn't fit reality,'' he added. "China doesn't have this intention, and doesn't have this ability." Mr.

Listed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) might face a series of bankruptcies as their holdings of cash reduced significantly last year, The Korea Times reported. According to the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association, the total cashable assets of 612 listed companies in Korea, which settled accounts on Dec. 31, stood at 52.22 trillion won ($46.71 billion), a 3.4 percent decrease from the previous year. Cashable assets include not just cash, but bank deposits and other financial products that could be turned into cash within three months.

Hungary’s national airline, Malev, has ceased operations in the latest development to shake the country’s ailing economy and pile pressure on prime minister Viktor Orban, the Irish Times reported. Malev abruptly announced yesterday morning that it was grounding all flights, amid fears that its aircraft could be impounded abroad after they were not allowed to take off from Dublin and Tel Aviv airports.

Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile has made a 3 billion crowns ($446 million) offer for bankrupt Swedish group Saab which has drawn a cool response from receivers, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Friday, Reuters reported. The receivers want bids for parts of Saab rather than the whole business as that would raise more for creditors, the source said. Saab was declared bankrupt last December after months of efforts to keep it afloat by owner Swedish Automobile. "Youngman made an offer for all of Saab on Monday.

The government this week pressured one banker to give up his bonus and humiliated another by stripping him of his knighthood, populist moves that may assuage taxpayer anger over propping up failed banks, but risk long-term damage to the City financial district, Reuters reported. Britons, facing bleak job prospects, rising prices and harsh state spending cuts, are incensed at huge executive pay packages, in particular bonus payouts to bankers many blame for triggering Britain's worst recession since World War Two.