IMF

Greece has agreed the outline of a €24bn austerity package, including a three-year wage freeze for public sector workers, in return for a multibillion-euro loan from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund, according to people familiar with the...

The UK economy remains balanced between recession and recovery, Alistair Darling warned today, saying there are no guarantees the current upturn will continue.

The G20 group of rich and poor countries is likely to make rapid progress on a radical IMF plan to tax the world's financial institutions in the hope of reaching a deal by the end of the year, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, said today.

Greece could be forced to reluctantly accept the agreed EU and IMF bailout package after its borrowing costs surged to fresh highs yesterday.

Fabrice Tourre - the bond trader at the heart of Goldman Sachs' fraud case - was on Tuesday barred from working in the City of London in the first 'victory' for financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has increased its forecast of economic growth in Britain, predicting GDP would be about £20bn higher by 2020 if the Conservatives gain power.

Greece's financial problems continue to deteriorate as its four biggest banks have been forced to ask for State aid and government bond yields rise to fresh highs.

A £20bn bailout plan to help debt-laden Greece has been agreed by all 16 eurozone countries.

Ghana is as long as 75/1 with some bookmakers to win this summer's World Cup, but the IMF predicts the west African nation will walk away with a world title of a different kind in 2010.

Western governments need to convince markets they have credible plans to reduce debt so that a much-feared double-dip recession does not materialise.