Nov. 18, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Xinhua world economic news summary at 0430 GMT, Nov. 19
BRUSSELS -- The European Commission (EC) approved here on Wednesday the restructuring plan of the British bank Lloyds for its 19 billion euros (about 28.6 billion U.S. dollars) state recapitalization.
"This plan effectively addresses the commission's competition concerns and at the same time ensures the return of Lloyds Banking Group to long term viability," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said. (EU-Lloyds-Restructuring)
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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras, the largest company in the country, ranked second in a list of the 25 most profitable companies in the American continent, the consulting company Economatica said Wednesday.
Last week, Petrobras announced a 4.1 billion U.S. dollars net profit in the third quarter of 2009. The amount is only below the profit registered by U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) in the period, which reached 4.73 billion dollars. (Brazil-Petrobras-Ranking)
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WASHINGTON -- Countries can contribute to a more robust recovery from the global recession by rapidly concluding the Doha Development Round (DDA), which could bring up to 160 billion dollars in gains, a World Bank research paper said on Wednesday.
Released just days before the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s ministerial meeting in Geneva on Nov. 30, "Conclude Doha: It Matters!" notes that now more than ever the completion of the Doha deal is a must, as it would create new market access, lock in existing market access openness, and boost real income for the world. (World Bank-Doha Round)
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SEOUL -- The South Korean government is considering to raise the country's growth forecast for 2010 as the economic is expected to grow even higher than its earlier projection of a 4-percent expansion, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung- hyun said Thursday.
The country's economy is showing a better-than-expected trend, Yoon said at a meeting of heads from major private and state-run think tanks. (S.Korea-Growth Forecast)
