Monday, February 14, 2011

20110214 1007 Global Economic Related News.

Mubarak resigns, hands over control to military
Egypt's Hosni Mubarak resigned as president and handed control to the military on Friday, bowing down after a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by hundreds of thousands. A massive crowd in Cairo's central Tahrir Square exploded into joy, waving Egyptian flags, and car horns and celebratory shots in the air were heard around the city of 18 million in joy after Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall. "In these grave circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position as president of the republic," a grim-looking Suleiman said. "He has mandated the Armed Forces Supreme Council to run the state. God is our protector and succor." (The Star)

EU: Greek slams EU auditor over asset sale call
Greece's finance minister rejected comments by a senior European Union (EU) official backing calls for a huge state asset sale to boost the country's debt recovery effort. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou slammed comments by EU Commission official Servaas Deroose carried in the newspapers as "inaccurate". Deroose had repeated a demand for a state asset sale worth EUR50bn by 2015 and sparking a strong backlash from the Greek government. (BT)

US: Obama aims to cut deficit by USD1.1trn over 10 years
US President Barack Obama's proposed budget for fiscal 2012 will seek to cut the record federal deficit by USD1.1trn over the next 10 years, White House budget director Jack Lew said. Lew, speaking on CNN, said the president was also on track to halve the budget deficit by the end of his first term in office, which goes through 2012. (BT)

US: Sentiment climbs to eight-month high
Consumer confidence rose in February to the highest level in eight months as decreasing unemployment lifted Americans’ spirits. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment for the month climbed to 75.1 from 74.2 in January, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. (Bloomberg)

US: Treasury yields reach highs on economic growth
Treasuries fell, with 10-year notes touching the highest yield since April, as the US sold USD72bn of debt amid data showing the economy is gaining steam. Yields on 30-year bonds were the highest in 10 months as the amount of bids at the 10 Feb bond sale was less than the average for the past 10 auctions and the 8 Feb note sale drew the lowest demand in the category of bidders that includes foreign central banks since May 2007. (Bloomberg)

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