51 million jobs set to be lost as world growth reaches near standstill

Data released today shows that around 51 million jobs are at stake as the world will register only 0.5% growth in 2009, the worst rate since the end of World War II.

The International Labour Organisation said today that the global unemployment rate will shoot up to 7.1% with developing countries taking the hardest hit.  North Africa, the region irregular immigrants depart from to reach Europe, has the highest unemployment rate in the world – 10.3%.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund announced that global economic growth will reach a halt growing by just 0.5%.  ‘A sustained economic recovery will not be possible until the financial sector’s functionality is restored and credit markets are unclogged’, said the IMF.

The United Kingdom, one of Malta’s major trading partners and a major source of its tourism industry, is expected to experience one of the deepest recessions when compared to other countries, the report says.

Online reality buys your debts to own your life

Are you charismatic, jobless, drowning in debt, with only a carrot left for your next lunch? Then you could be next in line to be saved by the debt monkey.

‘We pay off all your debts but then we own you!’, says the official slogan of Debtmonkey.tv, a new internet tv reality starting today.

Ben Foster, a self-styled anti-reality YouTube box-blogger, was the lucky winner of a competition which attracted thousands of applications. But, as this video shows, he’s still not sure whether to endure the experience, though he admits he’s ecastic he was freed of all his debts:

Debtmonkey.tv can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Meanwhile Italian news agency ADNKronos today reports that more Italians have resorted to online micro-lending since the start of the financial crisis with web-sites as www.zopa.it proving to be a massive hit.

Photo of the Day: Cars-in-waiting

 

Cars waiting to be sold in the UK

This picture, taken from The Guardian, shows Nissan cars waiting to be sold in the UK. Demand for cars globally has plummeted forcing producers to cut production. In the UK only, car production was halved in December 2008. As a result, global steel production fell for the first time in ten years.

Meanwhile, Fiat continues its rise with rumours suggesting that it might merge with French carmaker Peugeot.

Economy and democracy take a hit in Singapore

Desperate times call for desperate measures, says a friend of mine. Singapore’s senior minister Goh Chok Tong seems to agree.

The Financial Times in fact reports that the southeast Asian state is ready to tap into its cash reserves in order to fund investment into the economy. Singapore’s economy is expeced to go down by 3% this year.

However,  the artcle also reports that the government is also prepared to tighten laws making public protests a criminal act in a bid to curb efforts of a major Singapore opposition party.

This is shameful. You do not invest in the economy while dvesting people of their freedom of expression.

It is time civil society and states speak out in favour of democracy in Singapore.

Britain’s economic fall is deepest since 1931 – experts argue

Britain may be experiencing the worst economic decline in peaceful times since 1931, argues a report to be released by Ernst & Young Item club next week which was seen by The Times today.

Unemployment in Britian is expected to hit the 3.25m mark, the same report says.

Meanwhile, the British government prepares to bail out its banks with a further £100 billion, The Times says. 

The past hour in news was not, however, all doom and gloom.

Barclays is in fact set to report a £6 billion pre-tax profit next month, The Telegraph says. The bank had announced 2,100 layoffs earlier this week.

Major Olympics 2012 sponsor raises concern over its future

‘Let’s see how far we’ve come’, says the song of an advert by Nortel Networks, a Canada-based company and sponsor of the next Olympic Games. It could ahve not gone farther than tomorrow as reports suggest, had it not filed for bankruptcy protection ahead of a gigantic interest payment which is due tomorrow.

The company, which employs 30,000 staff spread over 30 countries, said this move was part of a process of reorganisation aimed at making it stronger.

Capitan Findus is in high seas

Producer of Findus foods in the UK is in financial trouble putting 420 jobs at risk, Sky reports today.

This news was followed by announcements of job cuts in the Financial Times (80 jobs). Reports also show that as much as 15,000 jobs could be at risk in the world’s premiere financial services centre – the City of London. 

This is not only bad news for the UK, but for Malta as well. The UK is in fact Malta’s largest trading partner and Malta’s largest source destination for our tourism market. More unemployed means less money in the UK economy means less trade and less tourism for Malta.

Are Brits past their best-before date?

Did you ever taste Nutella past its best-before date? According to Brits, it tastes even better in times of crisis.

News which appeared yesterday on The Financial Times shows how British web site selling foodstuff which is past its best before date has registered a tenfold increase in its sales since the start of the financial crisis.

Elizabeth Rigby and Jane Croft report how Approved Food, a Sheffield based web-site, is selling like crazy.

Tough times ahead for the fine stomach.