ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek parliament passed a second austerity bill Thursday, opening the way for the EU and IMF to release a 12 billion euro ($17 billion) loan installment which Athens urgently needs to stave off bankruptcy.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rules of Treasury auctions may not sound like the stuff of high-stakes diplomacy. But a little-noticed 2009 change in how Washington sells its debt sheds new light on America’s delicate balancing act with its biggest creditor, China.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama’s plan for pulling U.S. troops from Afghanistan will intensify risks in the thick of next year’s fighting season, but Obama was right to factor in waning support at home for the war, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Reuters.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States would immediately have its top-notch credit rating slashed to “selective default” if it misses a debt payment on August 4, Standard & Poor’s managing director John Chambers told Reuters.
(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp settled nearly all of the claims related to the legacy Countrywide-issued first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization (RMBS) repurchase exposure for $8.5 billion in cash .
ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Anti-austerity protests turned violent in Athens on Tuesday as the European Union warned Greek lawmakers the country faces immediate default unless they back an unpopular economic plan this week.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending was flat in May, breaking a string of 10 straight months of gains, as households struggled with rising prices and automakers failed to deliver the models Americans wanted.
ATHENS/PARIS (Reuters) - France offered a radical solution Monday for banks to roll over some Greek debt for 30 years as the Greek government fought for political support of its five-year austerity plan to avert bankruptcy.
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signaled for the first time that China would struggle to meet its 4 percent inflation target this year, underlining expectations that interest rates will rise further even as economic growth slows down.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate’s top two Republicans on Sunday stood firm against including tax increases in any deal to raise the debt limit and shrink budget deficits one day before a meeting with President Barack Obama, but said the showdown need not go down to the “11th hour.”