■LATIN AMERICA
Bank predicts downturn
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Caracas, Venezuela, predicted on Sunday a sharp downturn for Latin America for next year with lower revenues and rising unemployment, and said it would redirect US$6 billion to finance production. “Latin America faces a crisis that is very different from those of the past,” said IDB vice president Santiago Levy at a meeting in Santo Domingo. “We face a period of stagnation in global growth, at least throughout 2009 and possibly through the first quarter of 2010.” Job creation “will practically stop,” with a consequent rise in informal occupations, the official said.
■AUTOMOBILES
Jaguar in talks for loan
Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Indian group Tata Motors, is in talks with the British government about a loan of £1 billion (US$1.49 billion) to prop up the employer of thousands of workers in Britain, the Sunday Times said on Sunday. The iconic brands Jaguar and Land Rover together employ about 15,000 workers in Britain, whose car industry like the US auto sector is suffering at the hands of a global economic slowdown. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was considering the JLR proposal and could deliver a verdict in a couple of weeks, the Times said. In response to the report, a spokesman for JLR said: “The automotive industry is facing unprecedented trading conditions as a direct fall out of the banking crisis and turbulence in financial markets and we are of course keeping government appraised of the impact on our business.”
■OIL
Prices gain in Asian trade
Oil prices gained slightly in Asian trade yesterday, remaining near US$50 a barrel as the market prepared for an expected OPEC production cut next weekend, dealers said. New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, rose US$0.63 to US$50.56 a barrel. The contract closed at US$49.93 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Brent North Sea crude for January was US$0.79 higher at US$49.98.
■TRADE
Meeting to be held on Doha
The WTO may to hold a ministerial meeting on the Doha round next month in a bid to conclude the long-frustrated talks, an official said in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday. “It seems highly likely that a meeting will take place,” said a source close to the WTO, following talks between representatives from 30 member states and WTO director-general Pascal Lamy. Envoys interviewed after the discussions with Lami were circumspect about the timing of such a meeting, with the exception of Indonesia’s trade ambassador Gusmandi Busdami. “We will have a ministerial meeting between Dec. 10 to Dec. 15. The political will is there,” Busdami said.
■BANKING
KfW expects further losses
Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW is expecting further losses in its final-quarter results of this year, following losses in the first three quarters of the year, the bank’s chief said. Last month and this month had been “catastrophic” for the bank, Ulrich Schroeder said in yesterday’s edition of the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The bank would need years to get over its losses, he added. Hit hard by the international financial crisis, KfW recorded a loss of 1.8 billion euros (US$2.26 billion) for the first nine months of the year, a statement said last week. Its bail-out of stricken business lender IKB cost it 1.1 billion euros. Devaluation of its asset portfolio cost another 1.6 billion.
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