ROME - THE global financial crisis is taking a toll on Italy's economy, with GDP expected to fall sharply this year, while the budget deficit and debt are set to rise, the International Monetary Fund said.
In its so-called Article 4 consultations with Italian authorities, posted on its website late on Friday, the IMF confirmed its forecast of a 2.1 per cent contraction of GDP in 2009 from a 0.6 per cent fall in 2008, 'with risks tilted to the downside'.
Consumer borrowing down for third month
WASHINGTON Consumer borrowing fell for a third straight month in December, the longest stretch in 17 years, as households cut spending amid a steep recession and rising job layoffs. The Federal Reserve said yesterday that consumer borrowing dropped at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in December. The $6.6 billion decline was nearly double what analysts expected. It followed an $11 billion drop in November that was the biggest monthly plunge on records going back to 1943. The weakness in December reflected a big 7.8 percent decline in the category that includes credit card debt, and a 0.2 percent drop in the category that includes auto loans. The cutback in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity, is the major reason the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, contracted at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the final three months of last year. That was the biggest drop in the GDP since 1982. Consumer spending fell in both the third and fourth quarters last year, the first back-to-back declines since the 1990-91 recession. The three straight months of declines in consumer borrowing was the longest stretch of weakness since a seven-month plunge that ended in December 1991.
US to consult Russia on missile shield in Europe: Biden
The US will continue to work on a planned missile defence system in central Europe, but it will consult Russia, Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday.
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