Oman Observer - Business

Czechs take over EU helm; Slovaks embrace euro

PRAGUE — The two parts of what used to be Czechoslovakia made European Union history as the Czech Republic took over the EU presidency yesterday and Slovakia became the 16th EU member state to embrace the euro. Slovakia is surfing on a wave of optimism as a newcomer to the euro club,....

Brown sees economic challenge ahead

LONDON — Britain faces an “enormous economic challenge” in 2009 but it must also grasp opportunities for future growth, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday. The year ahead “won’t be easy”, Brown warned in a New Year’s message, but he voiced optimism that the British people would respond to the challenge.

TORONTO — Defying market trends, ICICI Bank posted 50 per cent growth in Canada in 2008, crossing $6 billion in assets. Rated as one of the best foreign banks operating in Canada, ICICI Bank (Canada) is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the parent bank in India. It has nine branches across Canada, including six in Toronto, two in Vancouver and one in Calgary.

WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates for 30-year-fixed home loans in the US fell for the ninth straight week and to their lowest level in 37 years, according to a report by financier Freddie Mac. The rate dropped in the final week of December to 5.10, down from the 5.14 rate the previous week, Freddie Mac said. For the same period in 2007, the rate was at 6.07 per cent.

Chile copper faces huge price swings, uncertainty in 2009

SANTIAGO — Copper, the engine of Chile’s economy, went through violent price swings in 2008, from a record high to a four-year low, and faces more uncertainty in 2009 amid a global financial crisis that threatens commodities across the board. “2008 was a year of stark contrasts; a year of two very different faces,”....

N Korea declares new campaign to rebuild economy

SEOUL — North Korea yesterday announced a three-year drive to revive its moribund economy, invoking the spirit of a mass campaign launched half a century ago, but analysts said it is fearful of the necessary reforms. The impoverished hardline communist nation revived the “Chollima” (flying horse) campaign begun in 1956 after founding president......