Headlines

Higher oil prices, Japan's troubles and unrest in Libya and elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East are upsetting consumers in parts of the euro zone, The Wall Street Journal reported. Economic data released Wednesday showed consumer confidence deteriorated in Germany, albeit from an elevated level, even though the economy is powering ahead. Figures also showed consumer sentiment weakened further in Italy and hovered at a low level in France in April.

The European Commission did not do enough to criticise the unsustainable growth of the Irish economy during the boom and the government here did not use the tools that could have slowed bank lending, according to Klaus Regling, the boss of the EU’s new bailout fund, the Irish Times reported. Mr Regling is the first chief executive of the European Financial Stabilisation Fund (EFSF), which was set up in mid-2010 to provide funds to bail out out euro area countries. Ireland became the first country to be provided with funds by the EFSF.

The tax collector has sealed a loophole that allowed companies to claim tax returns on debts that they were finding difficult to collect as it unveiled tighter rules to guide the claim process, Business Daily Africa reported. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) published the new rules in the latest Kenya Gazette in a bid to bridge its tax collection deficit that stood at Sh11 billion in the six months to December amid growing public expenditure.

The threat of a cut to Japan’s credit rating adds pressure on Prime Minister Naoto Kan to raise taxes as he wrestles with financing earthquake rebuilding without adding to the world’s biggest public debt burden, Bloomberg reported. Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook yesterday to “negative” on Japan’s AA- local-currency rating, estimating that costs stemming from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis may boost budget deficits by 3.7 percent of gross domestic product through 2013.

The Department of Finance has advertised for people interested in being nominated or appointed to the boards of banks as part of the clear-out process, the Irish Times reported. The department is creating a pool of potential directors after Minister for Finance Michael Noonan announced plans last week to clear out the boards of the banks of the directors who were in place before the banking crisis. This process “should ensure a high-calibre field from which directors may be chosen and makes the process more open and transparent”, the department said.

Nortel Networks Corp. is taking its multi-billion-dollar global intercompany cash fight public in June, the lead bankruptcy lawyer for the liquidating telecommunications company said Tuesday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Behind-the-scenes efforts have failed to resolve disputes over which part of Nortel gets how much of the nearly $4 billion being raised in the breakup of the company, so Nortel is turning to the courts in Canada and the U.S., said the attorney, James Bromley, who is with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

The first yuan-denominated share to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange is laying the groundwork for a "seismic change" when China allows its citizens to invest abroad more freely, the exchange's head said. In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., said exchange officials are preparing for much greater outbound investment from China that would drive demand for yuan-linked products in Hong Kong.

The lenders to the Quinn Group will receive interest payments of about €100 million a year under the restructuring deal where they have taken control of the business from Seán Quinn with Anglo Irish Bank, the Irish Times reported. Banks and bondholders are owed €1.28 billion by the group, while State-owned Anglo is owed €2.88 billion by Quinn and his family.

The future of Saab Automobile remained uncertain Tuesday after its Dutch owner Spyker Cars NV said it had to fulfill additional conditions to win approval for its short-term funding plans and was unsure whether it could fulfill these conditions within a short period of time, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, parts suppliers said they would soon have to start laying off workers as a production suspension continued at Saab Automobile's plant in Trollhattan, Sweden.

Greece and Portugal are deeper in debt than previously estimated, according to official figures that show attempts to contain their financial woes have so far failed, The Guardian reported. The statistics agency Eurostat said Greece's deficit hit 10.5% of economic output in 2010, well above the 9.6% the European commission expected last autumn. Portugal, which is negotiating a bailout similar to those for Greece and Ireland, saw its debts reach 9.1%, far ahead of the 7.3% the commission used as a benchmark until only a few months ago.