US moves on auto sector bailout as economic woes mount
Friday, 12 December 2008
WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (AFP): US lawmakers cleared a hurdle yesterday over a 15-billion-dollar bailout of the troubled auto sector as corporate and economic news from around the world pointed to hard times.
Job cuts, bankruptcy fears and faltering Chinese exports provided fresh evidence of a deep and painful recession.
In Washington, lawmakers were set to vote on a bill to disburse some 15 billion dollars to bail out cash-strapped US automakers, after congressional leaders worked out a deal.
In the most far-reaching intervention in US industry in years, the legislation calls for emergency government loans to the car companies within days to be overseen by a "car czar" appointed by President George W Bush.
Although the tentative deal still faced some opposition, analysts said it could avert a collapse of the US auto industry with devastating economic effects.
In another sign of troubles, the World Bank announced the creation of a two-billion-dollar fast-track lending programme to help the world's poorest countries weather the global financial crisis.
The bank's executive board approved the creation of the lending facility which will speed up grants and long-term, interest-free loans to 78 poor countries, the development lender said in a statement.
"The poorest people will be hit the hardest by the crisis that is likely to get worse next year," World Bank president Robert Zoellick said in the statement.
Data in Italy showed the economy shrank 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, putting the country in recession.
Gross domestic product in the Eurozone's third largest economy after Germany and France had contracted 0.4 per cent in the second quarter.
In Beijing, official data showed that exports from China fell for the first time in seven years in November as the spreading global economic crisis caught up with the Asian powerhouse.
The national customs bureau reported a 17.9-per cent decline in imports of foreign goods and a 2.2-per cent decline in exports in November.
The figures showed that China, whose growth has been fueled by its role as the world's workshop where imported goods are assembled and then exported, is slowing rapidly with job losses already causing concern about social unrest.
China's top leaders wrapped up the annual Central Economic Work Conference, chaired by President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Wednesday, promising a macroeconomic policy blueprint for next year.
"The development of our nation's economy faces many challenges in 2009, but also many opportunities," said a communique issued by the conference and carried on state television.
Amid the deluge of bad news, Australia bucked the trend where figures showed consumer confidence rising.
A leading confidence indicator surged 7.5 per cent in December in a sign that aggressive efforts to stimulate the economy, including two sharp interest rate cuts, may be working, analysts said.
Job cuts, bankruptcy fears and faltering Chinese exports provided fresh evidence of a deep and painful recession.
In Washington, lawmakers were set to vote on a bill to disburse some 15 billion dollars to bail out cash-strapped US automakers, after congressional leaders worked out a deal.
In the most far-reaching intervention in US industry in years, the legislation calls for emergency government loans to the car companies within days to be overseen by a "car czar" appointed by President George W Bush.
Although the tentative deal still faced some opposition, analysts said it could avert a collapse of the US auto industry with devastating economic effects.
In another sign of troubles, the World Bank announced the creation of a two-billion-dollar fast-track lending programme to help the world's poorest countries weather the global financial crisis.
The bank's executive board approved the creation of the lending facility which will speed up grants and long-term, interest-free loans to 78 poor countries, the development lender said in a statement.
"The poorest people will be hit the hardest by the crisis that is likely to get worse next year," World Bank president Robert Zoellick said in the statement.
Data in Italy showed the economy shrank 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, putting the country in recession.
Gross domestic product in the Eurozone's third largest economy after Germany and France had contracted 0.4 per cent in the second quarter.
In Beijing, official data showed that exports from China fell for the first time in seven years in November as the spreading global economic crisis caught up with the Asian powerhouse.
The national customs bureau reported a 17.9-per cent decline in imports of foreign goods and a 2.2-per cent decline in exports in November.
The figures showed that China, whose growth has been fueled by its role as the world's workshop where imported goods are assembled and then exported, is slowing rapidly with job losses already causing concern about social unrest.
China's top leaders wrapped up the annual Central Economic Work Conference, chaired by President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Wednesday, promising a macroeconomic policy blueprint for next year.
"The development of our nation's economy faces many challenges in 2009, but also many opportunities," said a communique issued by the conference and carried on state television.
Amid the deluge of bad news, Australia bucked the trend where figures showed consumer confidence rising.
A leading confidence indicator surged 7.5 per cent in December in a sign that aggressive efforts to stimulate the economy, including two sharp interest rate cuts, may be working, analysts said.