Spanish recession to last until 2014, IMF warns

Spain's unprecedented double-dip recession will last for at least a further 18 months and poses a threat to the rest of Europe, the International Monetary Fund said.

ECB could take haircut on Greek bonds in 'last chance' plan

European policymakers are working on "last chance" options to bring Greece's debts down and keep it in the eurozone, with the ECB and national central banks looking at taking significant losses on the value of their bond holdings, officials said.

German minister dismisses talk of Spain debt purchases

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble threw cold water Saturday on speculation that the eurozone's bailout fund will buy Spanish public debt.

David Cameron defends economic policies

Prime Minister David Cameron has defended the UK's economic policies, saying the government has acted "decisively" to restore confidence in its public finances.

Spain feels debt heat, Greece way off bailout terms

MADRID/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spain paid the second highest yield on short-term debt since the birth of the euro at an auction on Tuesday, and EU officials said Greece had little hope of meeting the terms of its bailout, casting fresh doubt on its future in the euro zone.

Economy Seen Neither Too Good or Bad to Decide Election

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is predicting an election-year economy that’s neither here nor there: growth that disappoints yet keeps the U.S. from slipping back into the recession billionaire Bill Gross has indicated may happen.

Germany Pushes Back After Moody’s Lowers Rating Outlook

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said Germany will remain Europe’s haven during the financial crisis, pushing back against Moody’s Investors Service’s decision to lower the outlook on the country’s top credit rating.

EU says mismanaged Greek banks face "revamp"

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Banks recapitalized as part of Greece's bailout may be forced to overhaul their management and governance, the European Commission said, in response to questions raised by Reuters about alleged malpractice at Greece's fourth-largest bank.

Wall Street braces for barrage of data

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Investors will have a lot to contend with this week: a deluge of earnings and economic reports are due out, including Facebook's (FB) first report as a public company and the first look at U.S. economic growth during the second quarter.

IMF to assess economic spillovers in new monitoring rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund approved changes to its annual economic surveillance rules on Wednesday that now make it mandatory for the Fund to assess whether the domestic policies of a country are affecting global financial stability.

Banking union in euro zone needed within months: ECB's Christian Noyer

PARIS: Euro zone countries need to establish a banking union within the coming months, European Central Bank Governing Council member Christian Noyer said on Wednesday, urging member states to speed up the pace.

IMF calls for action as euro crisis escalates

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The International Monetary Fund urged euro area policy makers Wednesday to address the worsening crisis in the currency zone.

Investors Pay to Fund EFSF Aid With Bills at Negative Yield

Investors are paying the European Financial Stability Facility for the privilege of financing Europe’s temporary rescue fund, with demand to buy its debt increasing even as yields drop below zero.

Court delay, Spanish doubts hinder Merkel euro response

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to be reaching the limits of German patience on the euro zone crisis, with the Constitutional Court and members of her own coalition seeking deeper scrutiny of whether emergency measures comply fully with national law.

China’s Growth Rate Slowed in the 2nd Quarter

BEIJING — China’s growth slowed in the second quarter, adding to the worries about the ability of the world’s second-largest economy to offset low growth elsewhere.

Debt crisis: Spain's recession 'could last until 2014'

Spain's recession could drag into 2014 due to austerity measures, economists warned, after Madrid outlined a new €65bn (£51bn) cuts package.

EU watchdog warns banks still face major challenges

(Reuters) - The European Banking Authority said there remained significant challenges ahead for Europe's banks having just cleared the first hurdle to bolster their capital buffers.

Europe's stability mechanism remains elusive

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Europe has a lot riding on its latest tool to stabilize the euro currency union, but there are now more questions than answers about the European Stability Mechanism.

China's Premier vows to prevent housing bubble

China must “unswervingly” press ahead with controls to keep house prices down, Premier Wen Jiabao warned, highlighting fears of a renewed property bubble in the world's second largest economy.

Half Germans support giving more powers to Brussels-poll

(Reuters) - Around half of Germans are prepared to give up some national powers to Brussels in the pursuit of a common European Union financial policy, according to a poll by Emnid for the German magazine Focus.

The balancing act of weighing growth against safety

The financial policy committee of the Bank of England is now one year old. Its purpose is to identify and, where possible, mitigate threats to the British financial system.

Christine Lagarde: IMF to cut global growth forecast

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has said that the organisation's next forecast for global economic growth would be down from the 3.5% predicted in April.

ECB's Draghi: Broad Slowdown Justified Rate Cut

The European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rates by 0.25 percentage point, bringing the refinancing rate to a record low of 0.75% and the overnight deposit rate to zero.

Merkel tells Italy benefits of reforms take time

ROME (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Italians on Wednesday they could not expect to reap the rewards of economic reforms in just a few months but that the experience of her own country showed it was worth persevering.

Europe: Sputtering toward oblivion

FORTUNE -- European leaders continue to apply flimsy Band-Aids to their gushing economic wounds in an effort to avoid making the hard decisions necessary to save the euro from oblivion.

French Banks Say EU Summit Important Step To Stability

The French Banking Federation said in a statement published late Friday that the results of the European summit Thursday and Friday are an important step towards ensuring stability in the euro zone and will build investor confidence.

Consumer spending stalls in May, incomes up just 0.2%

WASHINGTON – U.S. consumers spent no more in May than in April after seeing almost no gain in their pay. The lack of growth in consumer spending and wages suggests that a faltering job market is slowing the economy.

EU Banking Debate Shifts to Euro Area After Accord on Spain

The European Union’s push to unify bank oversight moved to the euro area after two days of talks in Brussels, putting the European Central Bank at the center of Spain’s efforts to extract its government from its banking- industry rescue.