WASHINGTON (AFP) – – Fitch Ratings Monday affirmed its top AAA credit rating for the United States, with a stable outlook, but said Washington faces “difficult decisions” on its finances to maintain long-term confidence. The British-based credit rating agency said the near-term risk to US credit “is minimal given its exceptional financing and economic flexibility [...]

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BEIJING: China ordered vigilance against foreign “hot money” flows and speculative real estate investment on Sunday in its latest expression of concern over a surging property market. The order issued by the State Council, or Cabinet, called on authorities nationwide to take a range of measures to “promote the stable and healthy development of the [...]

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BASEL, Switzerland: Emerging economies are driving a global economic recovery, the head of the ECB said on Monday after central bankers concluded that the world economy was returning to normality. “At a global level … there is a confirmation of the progressive normalisation of the economy,” European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet said on [...]

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WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is considering imposing a fee on banks to help recoup taxpayers’ dollars used rescuing the finance and auto sectors at the height of the economic crisis, an official said on Monday. Suggestions that banks and finance firms could be hit by such a levy came as Wall Street gears up [...]

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