Personal Finance News & Advice

Casino Monday will consider the offer to purchase its share made by Monoprix, Galeries Lafayette, said Philippe Houze, chief executive of Galeries Lafayette and Monoprix CEO.

Galeries Lafayette and Casino disagree on the value of their joint venture, the first finding to 1.35 billion euros from 50%.

"Galeries Lafayette reiterated their offer on Feb. 10 at Casino redeem its share to 1.35 billion euros," said Philippe Houze in an interview with Le Figaro on Saturday.

The CEO of Casino "Jean-Charles Naouri assured me that the offer would be considered at Monday's council," he adds. "We have the means to finance the offer, if accepted."

Industrial production in France fell 1.4% in December over a month. Over the full year, manufacturing grew 3.8% on average.

Industrial production in France fell 1.4% in December over the month, reversing its rebound in November (1.1%), said Friday the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). In the manufacturing industry alone, which excludes mining and construction, production also fell 1.4% after rising in November (1.4%), INSEE said. Over the full year, manufacturing grew 3.8% on average.

In the fourth quarter of the year, output fell in manufacturing (-0.5%), as well as throughout the industry (-0.8%), INSEE said. She fell in electrical, electronic, computer and machinery (-1.1%) and in "other industrial products" (-0.9%).

Output also fell in the agricultural and food industries (-0.9%). In contrast, manufacturing output has been increasing in the transport equipment (+1.6%) and refining (+4.6%). On December alone, production fell in the agricultural and food industries (-1.2%), in electrical, electronic, computer and machinery (-3.2%) among others. She has been a slight increase in refining (+0.6%).

Finance ministers of the euro area have indicated to Greece Saturday they could not give the green light to restructure its debt held by the private sector in the absence of guarantees on measures deemed necessary to the granting of a second international aid plan.

The ministers hoped to meet Monday to finalize the second aid package of 130 billion euros to be implemented by mid-March to avoid a bankruptcy of Public Accounts but the appointment was postponed because of reluctance to engage in Athens in favor of the reforms demanded. The meeting was replaced by a conference call.

"All participants of the conference sent a clear message to the Greeks: that's enough," said a member of the Eurogroup. "There are a lot of frustration because they are dragging their feet."

"They have to decide and start talking honestly, decisively and quickly with the troika of program aspects that remain to be finalized, such as tax reforms and those of the Labour Code , "he added.

The troika, consisting of representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank, has prepared a plan to restructure Greek debt which depends on the granting of the second aid plan.

VENIZELOS POINTED FINGER

The private sector should accept a discount of around 70% of its obligations under the debt exchange program. This will help to lower than 100 billion euros of debt of Greece, which currently represents 160% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

International creditors demanded that the Greek parliamentary parties agree on including a decrease in the minimum wage and a reduction in premiums paid leave in the private sector but Athens fears a deepening recession and social movements.

Finance ministers from the eurozone believe further that their Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos cares more about elections in April that the financial situation.

"There are a lot of frustration regarding the Minister Venizelos, which is very difficult to mobilize because he is busy with the campaign for the leadership of PASOK. IT is not available to meet with members of the troika.

"He prepares his own political future, rather than his country," lamented the head of the Eurogroup.

The interested party has meanwhile spoke of "great anticipation and great pressure not only from the three institutions that make up the troika, but also from the states of the euro area". Evangelos Venizelos has also recognized that the call had been "very difficult".

"The moment is critical. All must be concluded before tomorrow night," he said.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup President, has meanwhile not ruled out the possibility of bankruptcy of the Greek government accounts. "If we were to establish that everything went wrong in Greece, there would be no new program (aid) and it would mean that they should declare himself bankrupt in March" , he said.

Between 400,000 and 1.1 million jobs would be destroyed in a few years if we removed all the relief employer contributions on low wages, a study by the Treasury. A sardine canning factory near Porto

Between 400,000 and 1.1 million jobs would be destroyed in a few years if we removed all the relief employer contributions on low wages, according to a study document issued by the Ministry of Labour. This document commits only the authors (DARES and officials to the Treasury) attempts to assess the employment effects of reduced social charges on low wages conducted since 1993.

In the first scenario (with the assumption that the tax has a high impact), it is "from 550,000 to 1,100,000 jobs would be destroyed." In a second case (where yields effects on employment would have been reduced by half), the estimate is between 400,000 and 800,000 jobs. Implementation of relief "had a clear impact on the evolution of the relative cost of labor at minimum wage." The "very substantial reduction in the relative cost of labor at the minimum wage was accompanied by a stabilization of the share of unskilled employment in total employment," the authors observe.

Over the period 1993-1997, the relief "would have to create or save between 200,000 and 400,000 jobs." A net cost per job of relief (that accounts for employee social security contributions and lower spending of welfare benefits and unemployment benefits) "between 8,000 and 28,000 euros," the study said. In 2009, the relief arrangements in employer payroll taxes on low wages represented a gross cost of € 22.2 billion for the state.

These devices are the result of "two great waves of relief", the first since 1993 to reduce labor costs in the vicinity of the minimum wage (relief "Balladur" then "Juppé"). The second from 1998, to offset the impact on labor costs of the implementation of 35 hours and then the unification of the different scales of relief ("Loi Fillon" of 2003). Studies of the 2003 law "suggests that the additional cuts over the period 2003-2005 has broadly offset the negative impact on employment of upward convergence of minimum wages from the RTT."

The study authors do not venture, however, to accurately assess the effects of devices on wages, existing studies are sometimes contradictory.

The Inter, which participated FO, denounces "firmly austerity and rigor decided and imposed by the government." The leader Bernard Thibault of the CGT in Marseille to protest against austerity.

The Inter on Friday called for a "National Day of Action interprofessional, including rallies," to protest against government austerity plans in France.

Meeting at the headquarters of the CGT in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), five unions (CGT, CFDT, FSU, UNSA and Solidarity) also issued a "joint appeal" to employees to "challenge the government, elected representatives and officials companies in the period from 1 to December 15. "

FOR, which participated for the first time in two years this Inter, said he would not sign the joint appeal, but be associated with the day on 13 December.

The population is growing annually by 80 million. Asia accounts for 4.2 billion people. The largest increase was in Africa. China in 2011 the most populous country in the world with 1.33 billion people

The world's population, now 7 billion, should exceed 10 billion by 2100 and even 15 billion if fertility rates proved somewhat higher, according to a UN report published Wednesday in London. This "State of World Population 2011" was published shortly before the ceremony to mark the passage on October 31 the threshold of the 7 billion people living on the planet. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) insists on the serious challenges posed by demographic pressures to fight poverty and preserve the environment.

According to recent estimates, up from previous figures, there should be on earth 9.3 billion people by 2050 and more than 10 billion by the end of the century, says UNFPA. But "with only a slight variation in fertility, especially in the most populous countries, the figures could be higher: 10.6 billion people on earth by 2050 and more than 15 billion by 2100." The paper notes the growing population engaged in the Baby Boom after the second world war, the impact fades in the sixties.

2.5 children per woman

For prosperity, better education and access to contraception drastically reduce overall fertility, to the point that today some rich countries are facing an alarming decline in population.Thus, for the past six decades, the global average fertility declined from 6 children per woman to 2.5 today. The range is from 1.7 children on average in developed countries to 4.2 in the least developed. But the world has 80 million more each year, and the age of 25 to 43% of the population.

"Our record of population can be seen in many ways a success for humanity-people live longer, healthier lives," said Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA. "How many people can stand our ground? These are important questions, but perhaps not those that are suitable.When you look at just the numbers, we risk losing sight of opportunities to make life better for all in the future. "

The report highlights several challenges:

– Helping many young people in poor countries to create prosperity by finding them jobs, to get out of poverty.

-Environmental issues: already pressing, they are likely to intensify with the growing demand for food, energy and housing. Today, the report should be 18 months from the Earth to regenerate the natural resources used in one year. First concern is the lack of water. "The world will face a deficit of 40% between requests and available resources by 2030," the report said.

– The future of cities today, the balance between rural and urban populations' looks irreversibly "for cities, says the report, which emphasizes the need for better urban planning.

– Immigration: in rich countries to the aging population, immigrants may take jobs effectively, provided they are better integrated and protected.

The European Commission on Monday rejected the restructuring plan of the shipping company SeaFrance Channel, a subsidiary of SNCF, saying it violated European competition rules because the company has not sufficiently contributed to this program.

"Despite repeated requests from the Commission, France has been able to demonstrate that the financial contribution of the company was exempt from state aid and reflected market confidence about its future viability." we read in a statement.

The EC had announced in late June to review the proposed recapitalization to the tune of 223 million euros SeaFrance by SNCF.

The lowering of the rating two notches by Moody's Spanish increases the pressure on European leaders urged to engage at the summit of 23 October breakthroughs to resolve the sovereign debt crisis.

The rating agency announced Monday that it gave three months to assess the French Aaa rating and stable outlook, on a background of slower growth, crisis in the euro area and calls for a recapitalization of banks.

In this context, the markets have high expectations of the European Council to be held this Sunday, and during which France and Germany have promised to present a solution "comprehensive and lasting peace" to the crisis of the euro.

Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday was to have a telephone conversation with Angela Merkel to prepare for the meeting.

But German Chancellor again invited to the Wednesday markets patience.

"These sovereign debt has accumulated for decades, so we can not resolve in a single peak. It will be hard work over the long term," she said at a conference the press.

A theme echoed by the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "We are at a decisive moment, which requires clear answers and determined responses together," he said."Do not expect us to be at the end of our troubles."

"Finito BASTA"

According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, citing government sources, Germany is considering using the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) to help states pay the interest on their debt.

This could take the form of a suspension of payment of interest through the issuance of zero coupon by the EFSF, the newspaper said.

Some countries such as China, India and Brazil could also contribute to strengthening the capacity of the fund, said last Handelsblatt.

Berlin, however, tried to put an end to speculation about a possible increase in funding for the EFSF.

"There is no discussion of an increase in excess of 440 billion euros, that's it, finito, basta," said the spokesman for the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.

Two senior officials of the European Union had earlier denied reports the British daily The Guardian that France and Germany have agreed to carry the EFSF to 2,000 billion euros as part of plan to resolve the crisis debt in the euro area.

One of the two leaders said it was not easy to increase the capacity of the EFSF, currently at 440 billion euros.

Leveraging the EFSF? "NOT SO SIMPLE"

"It is naive to think we can do this kind of calculation and come up with a nice round figure of 2,000 billion.It's not that simple, "he said.

European leaders, however, could agree on Sunday means the multiplication of the response capacity of the EFSF, allowing it to secure some of the new issue of debt in the euro area, said on Tuesday European officials.

Ensuring, for example, the first 20% to 30% of potential losses, the EFSF could triple or five overall capacity for intervention.

With about 300 billion yet available, the EFSF could thus increase its fire power to more than 1,000 billion or 2,000 billion, which would be sufficient to cover the financing needs of Spain and the Italy in 2012.

European leaders will try to convince otherwise Sunday the banks to accept "voluntary" at a discount may reach 50% of their debt securities Greek and they will try to develop a plan for recapitalization of financial institutions the weakest.

Greece is still mired in recession and the debt is expected to reach 357 billion euros this year, equivalent to 162% of its gross domestic product. Most analysts agree that this debt can not be honored by Athens.

Stock Exchange Wall Street opened lower Tuesday, following a session of strong expansion, pending the vote key to the Slovak Parliament on strengthening the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).

Slovakia is the latest state of the euro zone that has not ratified the reform EFSF decided at the EU summit in July.

On Monday, the index had increased by 3% or more in response to joint statements by France and Germany on further steps to end the crisis.

In early trade on Tuesday, the Dow Jones fell by 0.47% (53.66 points) to 11,379.52.The Standard & Poor's, wider, yielding 0.63% (7.50 points) to 1,187.39 while the Nasdaq composite lost 0.48% (12.41 points) to 2553.64.

Values, Goldman Sachs was down 1.87% to 94.34 dollars after Citigroup had said that the exercise of the third quarter probably inflict a loss.

Research in Motion, however, is up sharply from 3.31% to 24.00 dollars. The group announced that its BlackBerry email and instant messaging were restored in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, nearly 20 hours after the crash reported in India and the region.

Europe will have its problems resolved by the G20 summit on November 3 and 4, Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday.

The Franco-German agreement is "total" the necessity to provide "comprehensive and sustainable solutions," said the French president at a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Paris and Berlin, he stated inter alia, are "willing to strengthen the capital structure of banks in Europe."

They also offer a number of adaptations of European treaties to accelerate the integration of the euro zone, said Nicolas Sarkozy.

"We will find solutions that will ensure the financial stability of Europe and the sustainable treatment of problems," he said.