Reuters, Bangalore- Goldman Sachs said the European banks sector needs to raise about 60 billion to 90 billion euros, or withhold one year of dividends, to reach an aggregate Tier I ratio of 9 percent -- a level achieved by European banks that have recapitalized recently.

REUTERS, LONDON- Poverty-ridden countries reaping the benefits of soaring oil and commodity prices should be investing their wealth at home, not putting it in sovereign funds, a senior United Nations official says.
 
Record crude and other commodity prices have seen some countries such as Nigeria bank billions of surplus revenue in sovereign wealth funds which are then reinvested, often in the developed world with the aim of conserving and growing them.

REUTERS, LONDON - Oil was near $145 a barrel on Friday, close to record highs reached in the previous session when traders bought into the market ahead of a holiday weekend in the United States.

Bdnews24.com

The government needs to take drastic steps for the IT-based business in Bangladesh to flourish, says Lokesh Mehra of Cisco Systems, a leading supplier of networking equipment and network management.

REUTERS, GENEVA- July is "the moment of truth" for a long-sought global trade pact, the failure of which would erode economic growth, sour diplomatic ties and hurt poor countries, the World Trade Organization head said on Friday.
 
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has invited trade ministers to Geneva from July 21 to broker deals in the two most sensitive areas of the so-called Doha round -- cuts to farming tariffs and subsidies, as well as to import duties on manufactured goods.

REUTERS, KARACHI - Justifying hefty increases in oil and gas prices to cut subsidies, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday his government wouldn't flinch from taking unpopular decisions to stabilise the economy.

"High growth in macroeconomic imbalances testifies that the country was living beyond its financial affordability," Gilani said in a speech at the State Bank of Pakistan to mark the central bank's sixtieth anniversary.

AP, DES MOINES, Iowa -- Midwest floods may not contribute as much to food inflation as was feared.

REUTERS, MUMBAI - Indian shares provisionally ended down 4.14 percent on Tuesday as investors dumped stocks on growing worries about high oil prices, inflation and political uncertainty.

AP, TOKYO -- Confidence at major Japanese manufacturers fell for the third straight quarter as soaring oil prices and fears of a U.S. economic slowdown weighed on the economy, a central bank survey said Tuesday.

The government weighed down by a heavy burden of subsidies has hiked fuel prices effective from Tuesday, reports bdnews24.com

AFP, ZURICH - Shares in Swiss banking giant UBS slid to an all-time low point on Tuesday, after it announced a corporate governance structure overhaul and the resignation of four board members.

REUTERS, NEW YORK - The Iraqi government sued dozens of companies, including US oil giant Chevron Corp., for more than $10 billion on Monday, saying they paid kickbacks to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's government under the U.N. oil-for-food program.

AP, NEW YORK -- Wall Street appeared headed for a sluggish start to the third quarter Tuesday, hurt by ongoing concerns about the damage rising oil prices will do to the economy.

REUTERS, BASEL, Switzerland - Central bankers issued a stern warning on Sunday against the dangers of surging inflation, saying rising energy costs risk damaging growth in rich and poor countries alike.

Guardian

The Iraqi government is to award a series of key oil contracts to British and American companies later today, fuelling criticism that the Iraq war was largely about oil.

This massive oil field surrounded by the desolate sands of Saudi Arabia's vast eastern desert feels like the middle of nowhere, reports AP.

AFP, BRUSSELS - Inflation in the 15 eurozone countries shot up to a record 4.0 percent in June over 12 months amid soaring oil prices, according to a first estimate from the EU's Eurostat data agency on Monday.

REUTERS, NEW YORK - Citigroup is planning to overhaul its bonus system for hundreds of top managers, a source familiar with the situation said, confirming a report in the Financial Times.

Times Online

The online auction site has been ordered to pay compensation by a judge in Paris for allowing users to trade counterfeit items
eBay has been ordered to pay €38.6 million compensation to LVMH, the French luxury goods group, for allowing fake versions of its products to be sold on the online auction website.

Bdnews24.com

Finance and planning adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam Tuesday defended the energy price hike and said it would halt any smuggling of fuels out of the country.