Finance articles and news

UPDATE:Germany’s Merkel:Succeeded In Rescuing Banks In Crisis

BERLIN (Dow Jones)–German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday efforts to rescue the banking sector, hit hard by the financial crisis, have worked out.

“We fundamentally succeeded in rescuing banks,” Merkel said at a conference organized by the Initiative New Social Market Economy, or INSM.

However, she added that there still needs to be a “timely sensible” restructuring of the country’s state-owned Landesbanken.

“We are still working on this problem,” Merkel said. “The Landesbanken must restructure.”

The chancellor also said the Basel II rules, which govern the amount of capital banks need to hold against potential market losses, must be changed to avoid any negative impact on economic growth.

Merkel said she doesn’t expect domestic demand to replace exports as the main driver of Germany’s economy.

The chancellor also sharply criticized the recent liquidity policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve, calling for a return to what she called “sensibility.”

She said the independence of the European Central Bank “must be retained and things which other central banks are doing, must be reduced.”

“I regard with great skepticism whatever powers for example the Fed has and also the Bank of England,” Merkel said. “We must together return to an independent central bank policy and to a policy of reason, otherwise we will be in exactly the same situation in 10 years time.”

She added that an international financial market regulatory framework is needed.

-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; +49-(0)30-2888-4126; andrea.thomas@dowjones.com
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Tags: Banks In Crisis, dow jones newswires, financial crisis, Germany's Banks

SNAPSHOT – Financial Crisis – 1330 GMT

- New U.S. housing starts unexpectedly rebounded in February, surging 22.2 percent, according to data that provided a rare dose of good news for the recession-hit economy.

- Germany’s economy offered unexpected signs of optimism. A monthly poll by the ZEW economic institute in Europe’s biggest economy showed analyst and investor sentiment rising to -3.5 in March from -5.8 in February

- U.S. Fed seen holding rates, avoiding dramatic moves

- BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa says a new $10.2 billion loan programme to help banks is aimed at those facing big risks from falling stock prices.

- U.S. Treasury plans to modify AIG (AIG.N) aid to recoup bonuses

- Ireland facing difficult recession which is worse than in the rest of the world, but its membership of the euro zone will help to mitigate the downturn – Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.

- Royal Dutch Shell says market conditions remain uncertain.

- Nokia to slash 1,700 jobs globally over the coming few months because of falling demand.

MARKETS

- World stocks pare early losses after Germany’s ZEW survey suggested economic sentiment was more resilient than thought but a fall in oil kept selling pressure strong.

- U.S. light crude slips nearly 1 percent to below $47 a barrel while spot gold tumbles to around $917 per ounce from $922.55 in New York on Monday.

- A surprise rebound in new U.S. housing drove the dollar higher against its global peers
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Tags: financial crisis, Financial Crisis Snapshot

Merkel holds anti-crisis summit

BERLIN – GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel, under fire over her reaction to the financial crisis, called together business leaders, ministers and experts on Sunday to discuss ways of escaping the international recession.

‘No concrete measure was decided,’ Economy Minister Michael Glos said after the six-hour meeting finished.

The goal of the meeting had been to reflect on possible measures, he added, with the government aiming to decide on specific actions by the end of January.

Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said everything would be done to avoid job losses.

The time had come for ‘us to take joint responsibility, as the government cannot handle the economic situation alone’, Ms Merkel told a press conference before the meeting.

Ms Merkel has made defending German jobs a top priority but increasing numbers have been lost in Europe’s biggest economy in recent weeks.

The criticism of the government has particularly hurt as Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) prepare for a legislative election in 2009. The CDU is in a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD).

German economic experts and officials have said her 31 billion euro (40 billion dollar) economic stimulus is not enough.

Other European Union members have also pressured for Merkel to spend more.

Quoting government sources, the weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported the government is preparing a second 30-billion-euro economic plan that will include investment and fiscal incentives.

The package is not expected to be announced until the end of January, giving Merkel time to prepare an anti-crisis strategy within the government, the weekly said.

Ms Merkel is to meet state and local government leaders this week.

Der Spiegel magazine said in its latest edition that the government now expects the economy to shrink by two per cent in 2009. The official government forecast is for a fall of up to one per cent. — AFP
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Tags: anti-crisis summit, financial crisis