BRUSSELS - THE European Commission urged the 27 EU governments on Friday to boost public spending and provide tax breaks to help industry overcome the accelerating economic slowdown that has already pushed several countries into a recession.
NEW YORK - US SHARES swung higher at the opening on Friday, staging a modest rebound after two days of vicious selling that pushed the main indexes to multi-year lows.
LONDON - GOLDMAN Sachs is working on a club loan of up to US$1 billion (S$1.53 billion) for troubled gaming firm Venetian Macau Ltd, ahead of next week's visit to Singapore and Macau by Las Vegas Sands Corp CEO, Sheldon Adelson, banking sources said on Friday.
Talks on the prospective financing are at a preliminary stage, but sources believe the loan would be linked to Venetian Macau's recently suspended development projects at sites five and six on the Cotai Strip.
FRANKFURT - THE head of the European Central Bank (ECB) called on Friday for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to play a greater role in resolving the global financial and economic crisis.
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said 'the current crisis highlights the fact that the IMF needs to gain more traction as regards the important countries,' or those whose economies affect the entire global economy.
