February 2009
23 February
The United Arab Emirates(UAE) is to lend Dubai US$10bn to ease the emirate's debt repayment schedule in an effort to rescue the struggling economy, officials say.
20 February
US banking shares hit their lowest level since 1992 as fears mounted that the government would be forced to nationalize a key institution, according to the Financial Times. Further heavy selling of key names - Bank of America and Citigroup were once again among the worst performing, down 14% to US$3.93 and 13.8% to US$2.51, respectively - helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its lowest level in six years.
19 February
Taiwan has fallen into recession as its GDP slumps 8.36% in the last quarter of 2008 due to export demand falls.
The Bank of Japan stepped up measures to help companies weather the credit crisis, unveiling plans to buy up to Y1,000bn (US$10.7bn) in corporate bonds and extend its purchases of other assets.
_17 February _
Lloyds Banking Group lost its long-held Aaa credit rating from Moody’s amid worries about growing losses from HBOS.
Japan experienced a quarter-on-quarter fall of 3.3% in gross domestic product (GDP) in the last three months of 2008, pushing the country into its worst slump in 35 years.
Russia’s industrial production fell by 20% in January, a fall that could signal a much larger than expected drop in GDP this year. The decline was its largest month-on-month drop since records began seven years ago.
_13 February _
Australia’s Senate passed a A$42bn (US$27.4bn) economic stimulus package.
The Spanish economy has fallen into its first recession for 15 years. Spain’s gross domestic product shrank by 1% in the fourth quarter of last year from the previous quarter, and was down 0.7% on the fourth quarter of 2007, according to official statistics.
12 February
South Korea took another 50 basis points off interest rates, bringing the total cuts to 325 basis points since October. The base rate now stands at 2%.
11 February
UBS lost nearly SFr20bn (US$17bn) in 2008. It said it would axe a further 1500-2000 investment banking jobs, taking employment to 15,000 - about one third less than the peak of almost 23,000 in the credit boom.
General Electric will divert US$9.5bn from last year’s stock sale to its finance arm, GE Capita l. The move, which follows last quarter’s US$5.5bn capital infusion, will enable GE Capital to reach its goal of reducing its debt, net of cash, ratio to 6-to-1 earlier than expected.
Royal Bank of Scotland said it was cutting 2300 staff, representing about 2% of RBS’s UK workforce of 106,000.
China's exports fell more than expected in January, down 17.5% from a year earlier, marking the biggest drop in more than 10 years. Imports were down 43.1% in the month compared with a year ago.
10 February
The French government agreed to give Renault and Peugeot-Citroën €3bn each in preferential loans in return for maintaining jobs and sites in France. Under the scheme, Renault Trucks , owned by Volvo , will also get a loan of €500m, suppliers will get loans of €600m and the financing arms of the two carmakers will receive loan guarantees of €2bn. Direct loans to carmakers will be for up to five years at 6% interest.
Latvia’s economy contracted at an annual rate of 10.5% in the fourth quarter of last year raising fears that the country may be unable to stick to the conditions attached to its recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package.
9 February
Nissan is to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide, 8.5% of its workforce, over the next year because of a sharp fall in sales. The Japanese carmaker made the announcement as it said it expected to make a loss of ¥265bn (US$2.9bn/£2bn) for its current financial year.
Barclays Bank has reported profits before tax of £6.08bn (US$9bn) for the full year of 2008, down 14% on its profits taken in 2007.
6 February
Deutsche Bank announces a net loss of €3.9bn in 2008, its first loss since being restructured after World War II.
The US unemployment rate rose to 7.6% in January 2009, up from 7.2% in December 2008, according to official figures. Unemployment is now at its highest level since 1992.
German industrial output fell by 4.6% in December 2008, figures from the Economy Ministry showed.
5 February
The Bank of England reduces UK interest rates to a record low of 1% from 1.5% in an attempt to boost the economy.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Ireland rose in January 2009 to the highest monthly level since records began in 1967. This is in line with unemployment across the nations that share the euro, which rose to its highest level in more than two years last month.
US President Barack Obama announces a US$500,000 limit on executive pay at US firms that need government aid.
Japanese electronics group Panasonic is to cut 15,000 jobs and close 27 plants worldwide as it seeks to reduce costs.
3 February
The Australian government is to spend A$42bn (€20.88bn) on a second fiscal stimulus package to help boost the economy’s flagging growth prospects as the global downturn threatens the nation with its first recession in close to 17 years. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point to 3.25%, its lowest level in almost half a century.
In China , 20 million migrant workers (15.3% of total 130 million) have lost their jobs in the country’s coastal manufacturing centres.
Morgan Stanley is preparing to cut up to 1,800 jobs, or about 4% of its global workforce.