NEWS,25.06.2013

EU to cut payments to large farms

EU negotiators agreed large farms will lose up to 30% of current subsidy payments in a major step towards consensus on reforms to the annual €50bn farm policy, but tough issues such as sugar quotas remain.
Representatives from EU governments, the European Parliament and the European Commission reached provisional agreement on elements of the complex reform to the common agricultural policy (CAP) during the first day of talks in Luxembourg, which ended in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Negotiators aim to strike a final deal at a second round of talks in Brussels on Wednesday.
"On a lot of the big issues we have an agreement in principle, but I think it is very important to stress that this deal is not done," Irish farm minister Simon Coveney, who represented EU governments in the talks, said.
One of the main objectives is to shift to subsidies that are based on the size of agricultural holdings, replacing the current link between farm payments and historical production levels in many parts of Europe.
The present system disproportionately benefits those who has the largest output in 2000-2002, such as industrial-scale grain producers in France's Paris basin.
Europe's largest farms could have lost up to 40% of their current subsidies in the reforms, but negotiators agreed to give governments an option to set an upper limit at 30%.
"I think it's a fair deal. This is about redistributing in a fair way that doesn't have a significant shock effect on agriculture, in particular the productive side of agriculture," Coveney said.
But critics warned that cutting subsidies to Europe's largest and most efficient farms could harm the bloc's food security.
Steady progress
EU officials involved in the talks said good progress had been made towards a deal, particularly in the area of direct subsidies, which will continue to consume three-quarters of the total farm budget from 2014-2020.
Agreement was reached that 30% of future direct subsidies should be conditional on farmers' taking steps to improve their environmental performance.
That will include leaving 5 percent of their arable land fallow as a haven for wildlife - a share that could potentially increase to 7% from 2017.
Farm groups have warned that forcing farmers to leave large swathes of land out of cultivation could hit European food production.
Provisional agreement was also reached to prevent certain landowners such as airports, golf courses and campsites from claiming EU farm subsidies as they can at present.
Officials said some tricky issues remained, including a disagreement over the deadline for abolishing EU sugar production quotas, which are blamed for pushing up domestic prices and limiting European sugar exports.
The Commission proposed an end to quotas in 2015, while governments would prefer 2017 and the parliament 2020. EU officials involved in the talks say a phase-out in 2017 is the most likely outcome but that a final decision will not be taken before Wednesday.
Governments also oppose the setting of an upper limit on annual payments to individual farms of €300 000, which is backed by the Commission and parliament. To avoid scuppering a deal on CAP reform, the issue is expected to be left to linked talks on the EU's long-term budget.
To offset the impact of shifting subsidies away from some producers, negotiators have agreed to let some governments link up to 15 percent of total subsidies to output, which critics say reverses some of the market liberalisation of recent reforms.
Agriculture will consume nearly 40% of the bloc's €960bn ($1.3trn) budget for 2014-2020 - the period covered by the reform - ensuring it remains the biggest single item of EU expenditure.
Europe's biggest agricultural producer, France, will continue to scoop the largest share of CAP funds at around €8bn a year, followed by Spain and Germany each with about €6bn annually.
If the negotiators strike a deal on Wednesday as expected, it must be rubber-stamped by the full parliament and EU governments before entering force on January 1 next year.

CEO: UK consumers can drive tax change

Britain's consumers, rather than its politicians, are more likely to bring about change in the country's taxation regime, the boss of its third-largest grocer J Sainsbury said on Tuesday.
Several companies, including Google and coffee chain Starbucks have faced criticism from UK tax campaigners over the way they structure their tax affairs, provoking consumer anger and pledges from political leaders to act.
Last week, leaders of the world's eight richest economies said they would take a tougher stance on tax evasion but promised little in the way of specific new action at the end of a two-day summit in Northern Ireland.
"It's much more likely that consumer action will change corporations' attitude than government action because it will be so difficult to move the dial across international borders," Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury's, told delegates at the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Retail Symposium 2013.
He said if consumers changed where they shopped tomorrow, corporations would quickly change their attitude to tax.
"The things that bring about most corporations' Damascene conversions is realising that actually it's hurting them in their core franchise," he said.
King said the tax debate in Britain had shifted to two distinct issues.
Firstly there was the "moral issue" of some companies arranging their tax affairs so they do not pay their way but still expect to benefit from what the tax system pays for, such as education, health and roads.
Secondly there was the debate about the unfairness of tax becoming part of the competitive dynamic, with internet players having an advantage over traditional retailers.
"As our industry is changing away from a property-intensive industry to one in which property plays a part but a much lesser part than it has historically, our tax system, that raises local taxes primarily on property, is exposed as an historical anachronism," said King.
"It clearly has to change and is a legitmate debate for us and the BRC to be driving."

Jane Austen to feature on UK banknotes

Author Jane Austen is "waiting in the wings" to become the next famous Briton to be honoured on the country's banknotes, outgoing Bank of England governor Mervyn King said.
The writer of 19th century classics such as "Pride & Prejudice", "Sense & Sensibility" and "Emma" is already a "reserve" figure whose image could be a clear candidate to replace that of naturalist Charles Darwin on the 10-pound note when his time is up, King said on Tuesday.
The announcement potentially defuses criticisms of a future lack of female figures on the currency, which have been levelled at the central bank since it said in April that wartime leader Winston Churchill would feature on the five-pound note from 2016, replacing prison reformer Elizabeth Fry.
Churchill and Darwin will complement economist Adam Smith and steam engine inventors Matthew Boulton and James Watt to complete the all-male line-up - other than the image of Queen Elizabeth on the overleaf.
The monarch is on one side of each of Britain's four denominations of bank notes, while celebrated Britons take their turn for 10 to 20-year stints on the other side.
Austen would be a well-known and likely popular choice. Her novels of romance among the Regency gentry, spiced with sharp social comment, still regularly feature on bestseller and literature course reading lists, and have spawned numerous period-drama TV shows and film adaptations.
Historical women figures should be chosen as individuals rather than for their gender, King said at his final appearance as governor before parliament's Treasury Committee.
"One thing which we are quite determined to avoid is any suggestion that the five pound note in some sense be reserved for women," he said.
The notes featuring Fry would continue to circulate for some time and although the final decision as to the identity of the next figure would be one for the incoming governor, Canadian Mark Carney, it was unlikely that there would be a time when there were no females, King said.
"I think it is extremely unlikely that we should ever find ourselves in the position where there are no women among the historical figures on our banknotes.

ECB not changing rates soon

The European Central Bank has no intention of altering eurozone interest rates for the time being, as economic conditions remain weak, executive board member Benoit Coeure said on Tuesday.
"Let me state quite clearly that I do not intend to drop any hints about a change in the monetary policy stance in the euro area in the near future," Coeure told an investors' conference in London.
"A reversal would not be warranted by current economic conditions," he said.
A copy of his speech was made available by the ECB in Frankfurt.
Area-wide economic growth was projected to remain weak this year and inflation was expected to remain clearly below 2.0 percent.
"The various non-standard measures that have been introduced by the ECB to support monetary policy transmission in certain market segments will stay in place as long as necessary, and there are other measures, standard and non-standard, that we can deploy if warranted," Coeure said.
"Therefore, at the current juncture, there should be no doubts that our 'exit' is distant and our monetary policy is and will remain accommodative," he said.
At its regular policy meeting earlier this month, the ECB held its key rate unchanged at its current record low of 0.50%, and president Mario Draghi insisted the bank stood "ready to act" to give the eurozone's economy a much-needed shot in the arm.

Internet devices grow amid mobile shift

Global sales of Internet devices including PCs, tablets and mobile phones is showing steady growth in 2013, amid a shift to more mobile gadgets, a survey showed on Monday.
The Gartner survey suggests the number of these devices will increase 5.9% in 2013 to 2.35 billion, driven by sales in tablets, smartphones, and to a lesser extent, "ultramobile" PCs.
Traditional desk-based and notebook PC shipments are forecast to drop 10.6% to 305 million units, not including ultramobiles, a new category of PCs which includes smaller computers including convertible tablets.
Tablet shipments are expected to grow 67.9% to 202 million units, while the mobile phone market will grow 4.35 to 1.8 billion.
"Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.
"Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets."
Sales of ultramobile PCs, which include the Google Chromebook, are expected to double in 2013 but remain at a relatively modest 20 million units, Gartner said.
Gartner said the red-hot growth in tablets and smartphones will taper off as these devices gain longer life cycles. The report said many consumers are opting for "basic" tablets to cut costs.
It said Apple's iPad mini represented 60% of overall Apple tablet sales in the first quarter of 2013.
"The increased availability of lower priced basic tablets, plus the value add shifting to software rather than hardware will result in the lifetimes of premium tablets extending as they remain active in the household for longer," said Gartner's Ranjit Atwal.
Lower-priced smartphones are also impacting the market, it found.
"Volume expectations for 2013 have been brought down as the life cycles lengthen as consumers wait for new models and lower prices to hit the market in the fall and holiday season," Atwal said.
"The challenge in the smartphone market is also that, as penetration moves more and more to the mass market, price points are lowering and in most cases so do margins."
Google's Android is expected to extend its dominance in 2013, accounting for 866 million devices, ahead of Microsoft Windows and Apple's iOS.
But Gartner said Apple is the most "homogeneous" with a large number of products in each segment, while Windows dominates in PCs and Android in smartphones.

NEWS,10.04.2013

Obama's new budget targets millionaires

The White House on Wednesday proposed a budget that sharply trims the US deficit over three years by forcing millionaires to pay more in taxes and enacting spending cuts that replace the "sequester" reductions that went into place last month.
President Barack Obama's fiscal 2014 budget blueprint ensures that those making $1m a year or more would have to pay at least 30% of their income, after gifts to charity, in taxes, officials said.
That increase, along with spending cuts and a 28% cap on tax deductions for high earners, would bring the US budget deficit down to 2.8% of GDP by 2016, senior administration officials told reporters. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in February projected the US deficit to be 5.3% of GDP this year.
Obama is due to release his full budget at 11:15 a.m. and to make remarks at that time.
The president's budget stands little chance of being enacted into law. However, senior administration officials said that, in spite of Republican leaders' resistance to tax increases, they hoped it could lead to a deficit reduction accord.
"There continue to be people who are on the Republican side ... in the Senate at least, who are saying things that would give you some hope that there is a path to a deal," a senior administration official told reporters.
The president is breaking from the tradition of using the largely symbolic budget release to outline his ideal tax and spending proposals. Instead, he is trying to relaunch talks to resolve a long-running fiscal battle with his Capitol Hill adversaries.
To do so, Obama is offering a concession that has enraged many of his supporters: adopting a less generous measure of inflation to calculate cost-of-living increases for the beneficiaries of many federal programs. One result would be diminished benefits for most recipients of the popular Social Security retirement program.
Although Obama has pledged to shield some of the most vulnerable beneficiaries, the proposal has drawn strong opposition from Democrats and groups representing labor and the elderly.
At the same time, his budget proposal faces seemingly insurmountable opposition from Republican leaders, who reject any new tax revenues.
Obama's hope is to build a coalition of lawmakers willing to compromise, although most observers see that as unlikely. He has invited 12 Republicans to dinner at the White House on Wednesday in an effort to soften resistance.
"The question is, are Republicans going to be willing to come to us to do the serious thing that they say is so important in terms of reducing our deficit," a senior administration official said in a conference call with reporters the day before the budget release.
Both sides are so dug that they were unable to prevent some $85bn in across-the-board "sequestration cuts" from going into effect March 1.
Obama's budget proposal would replace those cuts with his original deficit reduction proposal from December. That offer included $930bn in spending reductions and some $580bn in tax revenues.
The president's budget includes spending on policy priorities such as infrastructure and early childhood education. He would pay for those programs with additional new taxes and the elimination of some tax breaks for the well-off.
The budget also includes a 10% tax credit for small businesses that raise wages or hire new workers.
The president's advisers said the budget proposal would achieve $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. Added to the $2.5 trillion in deficit cuts from past efforts, the total would be above the $4 trillion reduction both Republicans and the White House have said would be an acceptable goal.
Obama's budget is a clear contrast with a rival blueprint put forward by Representative Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee and potential 2016 presidential candidate.
"You can invest in the middle class, create jobs, and reduce our deficits," a senior administration official said. "We don't have to choose between deficits as far as the eye can see and the sort of austerity that's in the Paul Ryan budget."

Pentagon budget asks for unpopular cuts

The Pentagon unveiled a $526.6bn budget on Wednesday that calls for base closures, program cancellations and smaller pay increases, but which is still $52bn higher than spending caps set by law, putting the department on a path toward another year of financial uncertainty.
The Defense Department request for the 2014 fiscal year beginning on October 1 asks Congress to implement a series of politically difficult cuts, involving a new round of base closure proceedings, increased healthcare fees and slower military pay increases.
While seeking ways to reduce spending in the current tight fiscal environment, the Pentagon budget would continue to fund high-priority programs and initiatives, including the strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific announced last year.
The budget includes $8.4bn for continued development of the three variants of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon's most expensive procurement program.
It also includes $10.9bn for new ship construction, $9.2bn for missile defenses, $379m for development of a new long-range bomber, $4.7bn for cyberspace operations and $10.1bn for space technologies.
"This budget made important investments in the president's new strategic guidance including rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region and increasing funding for critical capabilities such as cyber, special operations and global mobility," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement.
The budget is part of President Barack Obama's spending plan sent to Congress. The president's budget stands little chance of being enacted into law and is meant to serve largely as a negotiating tool with Republicans, who have outlined budget proposals of their own.
Obama's budget seeks new taxes and spending cuts that aim to replace the automatic, across-the-board reductions known as sequestration that went into effect on March 1. The Pentagon's share of the March 1 cuts is about $500bn over 10 years, or about $50bn a year.
The president's budget proposal unveiled on Wednesday would replace that $500bn cut under sequestration with a $150bn reduction, most of it spread over a five-year period beginning several years from now, a US official told Reuters.
Some $34bn in cuts would be implemented over the next five years, the official said, noting that the proposal would depend on Congress agreeing to eliminate the sequestration budget cuts. The White House and Republicans have been trying for two years to reach a deal on sequestration, without success.
The Pentagon budget asks Congress to begin a new round of Base Realignment and Closure proceedings, a politically unpopular request that was rejected by lawmakers last year and has already produced hearings this year, even before the decision was announced.
Base closures disrupt local economies and cost a huge amount up front, only saving money over the long run. The Pentagon is believed to have more than 20 percent surplus of infrastructure based on estimates from the last round of base closures that started in 2005.
The 2014 budget also renews a request to Congress for increased fees for pharmacy co-pays and health-care enrollment for retired military personnel. The Pentagon also proposed a 1 percent pay increase for military employees, lower than the 1.8 percent increase in the Employment Cost Index ordinarily used to determine pay increases.
Congress has been resistant in the past to increasing healthcare fees for military retirees and has often approved pay increases above those recommended by the department, a factor analysts say has led to military pay rising at an unsustainable pace over the past decade.

Chile halts construction of gold mine

A Chilean court suspended construction of what would be one of the world's biggest gold mines on Wednesday, accepting a complaint filed by indigenous groups on environmental grounds.
The project was launched in 2009 by Canadian mining company Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold producer, after an initial investment of $8bn.
It plans to spend $8.5bn more on the unfinished Pascua Lama mine, which straddles the Chile-Argentina border at an altitude of 4 000 meters (13 200 feet), and had hoped to start production next year.
But local groups have launched a legal battle to halt the plan, citing concerns over possible damage to a river and resulting in Tuesday's ruling by the Santiago Appeals Court, which was seen by AFP.
This came as crews were still removing earth to create the pit from which gold and silver would be extracted, and the order suspends construction of the open-pit mine while the court studies the broader environmental issues.
The complaint was filed by the Diaguita indians, a small community based in northern Chile. It said that the construction work "has generated a situation of imminent environmental danger" for the Estrecho River.
Interior Minister Andres Chadwick said he was not surprised by the court decision, and welcomed the idea of suspending the project while Barrick ensures it is complying with all environmental protection terms set by the government.
Lorenzo Soto, a lawyer for the Indians, said damage being caused by the construction of the mine was of "great magnitude."

Ecobank to assist Chinese investment

The Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) said on Tuesday it would facilitate Chinese investors for business in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The ETI said the opening of its representative office in Beijing, China about six months ago was to ensure that it positioned itself well to support China's drive to do business in Africa.

Answering a question from Xinhua on the floor of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) after leading stakeholders through the bank's 2012 annual performance, Group chief executive Thierry Tanoh said China has become a key player in terms of investment drives in Africa. 

"It will be a big mistake if we are not able to support the Chinese investors coming to invest in the sub-region," Tanoh stressed.

"We will be the entry port to South-South investors in line with our belief in the South-South cooperation," Tanoh said, adding that, with what the bank had experienced through its Beijing representative office, he had confidence that the Chinese market had great potentials for Ecobank. 

Meanwhile, the bank, with branches in 33 African countries, reports that its Profit After Tax went up 39% to record $287m in 2012. 

Its recorded total asset base was $20bn, while customer deposits totalled $14.6bn.

Tanoh described 2012 as a transitional year for the bank as it successfully acquired and integrated two banks, The Trust Bank (TTB) in Ghana, and the Oceanic Bank in Nigeria. 

"The performance was primarily driven by the successful integration of our landmark acquisitions in Ghana and Nigeria, resulting in significantly increased market share in both countries in terms of total assets (Number 1 in Ghana and number 6 in Nigeria) including investments of $74ml in one-off restructuring costs that will enable us to benefit fully from the enlarged platform," he explained. 

Ecobank, with its headquarters in Lome, Togo, and 18 500 employees, is owned by 600 000 individual, institutional, local and international shareholders with 1 200 branches in Africa. 

It has representative offices in Dubai, London and Beijing.

Smartphone price to drop in Brazil

In the latest of a series of tax cuts aimed at revving up the economy by boosting consumption and production, the Brazilian government announced Tuesday that it was doing away with the PIS/Cofins welfare tax on smartphones. 

The tax waiver will be applied to smartphones that retail for less than 1 500 reals ($750), which excludes high-end models such as the latest iPhones and Samsung Galaxy models, but includes most smartphones sold in Brazil. 

Several companies that produce smartphones in Brazil, including Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola, will benefit from the tax exemption.

Over the coming weeks, the government expects the price of Brazilian smartphones to fall as much as 30%, compared to their imported counterparts.

According to Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo, consumers will be able to buy smartphones at lower prices just in time for Mother's Day in early May.

With the move, the government expects the number of smartphones sold in the country to grow from 65 million to 130 million by next year, thus increasing digital inclusion. Brazil currently has some 240 million active cellphone lines. 

The tax cut is expected to save companies up to 500m reals ($250m) per year, starting in 2014. 

Tax cuts have already been applied to cars, computers and domestic appliances like ovens and washing machines, though they haven't always worked as expected.

Last month, President Dilma Rousseff announced tax cuts to staple foods, but the prices of several products did not drop, and some actually rose. 

Likewise, the price of tablet computers and Apple products made in Brazil did not fall as much as consumers expected following tax cuts.

WTO warns growth in trade to shrink

Global commerce is set to grow by 3.3% this year, the World Trade Organisation said on Wednesday, as persistent gloom in Europe led it to cut a previous forecast of 4.5%.
The announcement marked the second time that the WTO has reined in its figures for 2013, after initially estimating that world trade would expand by 5.6%.
"Improved economic prospects for the United States in 2013 should only partly offset the continued weakness in the European Union, whose economy is expected to remain flat or even contract slightly this year according to consensus estimates," the WTO said.
"China's growth should continue to outpace other leading economies, cushioning the slowdown, but exports will still be constrained by weak demand in Europe," it added.
As a result, this year looks set to be a "near repeat" of 2012, with both trade and output expanding slowly.
Last year, the WTO said, global commerce expanded by 2.0% from the level in 2011, compared with growth of 5.2%.
That reflected the gloomy economic picture in developed nations, as the WTO's first estimation for 2012 had been for growth of 3.7%.
"The abrupt deceleration of trade in 2012 was attributed to slow growth in developed economies and recurring bouts of uncertainty over the future of the euro," the WTO said.
"Flagging output and high unemployment in developed countries reduced imports and fed through to a lower pace of export growth in both developed and developing economies," it added.
In 2012, the dollar value of world merchandise exports only increased by 0.2% to $18.3 trillion, it underlined.
That trend was driven by falling prices for traded goods, with commodities such as coffee, cotton, iron ore and coal seeing major drops, while oil remained relatively stable.
Meanwhile, the value of world commercial services exports rose by 2.0% to $4.3 trillion.

Buyers of Iran oil seen cutting imports

The United States expects importers of Iranian crude oil to make further significant cuts in their purchases, a senior US official said on Wednesday, though she noted that there are seasonal fluctuations.
"I do expect that reductions in the importation of oil will continue," the senior State Department official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "There is seasonality, there are spikes, it does go up. There are prior contracts and seasonality to those contracts, so we know there will be fluctuations, but I expect that there will be continued reductions."
Asked if she expected these to be significant reductions, the official replied "yes."
Under US law, countries that import Iranian crude oil must make "significant reductions" - as determined by the US government - or their banks run the risk of being cut off from the US financial system under US sanctions.
The United States on March 13 granted a 180-day reprieve from such sanctions to Japan and 10 European Union nations after determining they had made such cuts. The official's comment suggested Washington may grant a further six-month reprieve when it next assesses how much countries have cut their imports.
The US sanctions aim to choke off funding for Tehran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is trying to develop weapons, by slashing Iran's crude exports. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

NEWS,05 AND 06.04.2013

Obama to offer entitlement cuts in budget

President Barack Obama will make key concessions to Republican foes next week when he unveils his US budget that proposes cuts to cherished entitlement programs, the White House said on Friday.
Obama's fiscal blueprint slashes the deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years, in what a senior administration official described as a "compromise offer" that cuts federal spending, finds savings in Social Security, and raises tax revenue from the wealthy.
Republicans led by House Speaker John Boehner are widely opposed to any new tax hikes, after the president secured $600bn in increased tax revenue in a year-end deal.
But Obama's concession to conservatives in the form of reduced cost-of-living payouts for Social Security benefits could revive consideration of a deficit-reducing "grand bargain" that has proved elusive in recent years.
Such cuts to public pension programmes and public health insurance for the elderly - seen as sacred cows for Obama's Democrats  have been longstanding demands of Republicans.
"While this is not the president's ideal deficit reduction plan, and there are particular proposals in this plan like the CPI (consumer price index) change that were key Republican requests and not the president's preferred approach, this is a compromise proposal built on common ground," the administration official said.
The president is willing to "do tough things to reduce the deficit," but only in the context of a package that includes new revenues from the wealthy, the official added.
"This isn't about political horse trading; it's about reducing the deficit in a balanced way that economists say is best for the economy and job creation."
Obama's new revenues will draw in part from capping retirement savings plans for millionaires, and closing some loopholes that benefit the rich.
The annual budget deficit is projected at 5.5% of gross domestic product for the fiscal year ending in September. Under the Obama budget, that would decline to 1.7% of GDP by 2023.
Combined with the $2.5 trillion in savings already achieved since negotiations in 2010, the Obama budget would bring total deficit reduction to $4.3 trillion over 10 years, slightly higher than the overall goal agreed to by both parties for stabilizing the national debt.
Boehner offered a lukewarm reaction to the plan.
"One of the best things President Obama can do is follow the House and outline a balanced budget next week  one that includes entitlement reforms that are not conditional on enactment of more tax increases, which will suppress growth instead of encourage it," Boehner said in a statement.

Petrol price fixing probe ends - report

Prosecutors in Italy have wrapped up a probe triggered by suspicions that the country's steep petrol prices were the result of manipulation by several large oil firms, media reported Friday.
The results of the investigation into seven companies - ENI, Shell, Esso, Total ERG, Tamoil, Q8 and API - have been sent to legal authorities in Rome and Milan for possible further action.
Italian motorists pay the highest prices at the pump in the European Union, according to the European Commission's directorate general for energy.
The newspaper La Stampa said the Varese prosecutor's office in northern Italy, which conducted the probe at the urging of a consumer group, suspected the oil companies of "carrying out speculative moves to boost the price of fuel at the pump".
But the head of Italy's biggest oil company ENI, Paolo Scaroni, told reporters on Friday the probe was just the latest official scrutiny of what he described as unavoidably high petrol prices.
"There are several reasons fuel prices in Italy are higher than elsewhere in Europe. To name just one, there are 24 000 service stations in Italy compared with 9 000 in Britain with a total equivalent consumption, so these service stations, in Italy, need a bigger margin" to achieve profitability, he said.
He also cited reduced station opening hours, and noted that Italian service stations cannot sell other items, such as newspapers or cigarettes, to augment revenues.
"There is nothing underhanded," he said.
The average price for unleaded petrol in Italy at the end of 2012 was €1.75 per litre ($8.60 per gallon), according to the European Commission's directorate general for energy.
That compared with €1.50 per litre in France, €1.56 per litre in Germany, and €1.63 per litre in Britain, the data showed, according to the Commission's Eurostat statistics office.

Panicked Cypriots queue at banks

Panicked Cypriots queued outside banks on Friday on rumours that a new levy would be imposed on deposits as part of a bailout, but the authorities moved quickly to assure them this was not the case.
Cyprus wrapped up talks this week paving the way for the €10bn ($13bn) bailout from EU-led lenders, but fears swirled that it was still well short of the €5.8bn to fund its end of the deal.
As the speculation spread on Friday morning, customers formed long queues outside some of the larger branches of the Co-op bank, prompting the government to issue a denial of the reports as "unjustified" and "groundless".
"Such an issue was never tabled or discussed, therefore we categorically state that no such issue exists, not even as an intention," said the finance ministry.
"The memorandum has been agreed with the troika and it does not include any additional measure that leads to the need to implement any new haircut on deposits," it said, referring to the EU, European Central Bank and IMF.
The ministry said the measures agreed by the Eurogroup on March 25 for restructuring the Cypriot banking sector were being implemented and the system was "on track towards stabilisation and consolidation".
The central bank also denied reports of any plans to introduce a "general" haircut of deposits to pay for the conversion of uninsured deposits above €100 000 into shares in the island's biggest lender, the Bank of Cyprus (BoC).
"We refute this because such an action is not provided for in the policy decisions taken by the Eurogroup," it said in a statement.
The supervisory authority for the Co-op societies also warned anxious customers to ignore "slanderous rumours" being spread by text messages that a haircut on deposits was imminent.
Under the deal to downsize the banking sector, large BoC depositors could lose all of the remaining 60% of their balances over 100,000 euros depending on the costs of winding up and merging second-largest lender Laiki.
Savers in that bank will have to wait for years to see any of their cash over €100 000.
Banks have been operating under stringent capital controls since they reopened last week, after a near two-week lockdown prompted by fears of a run on deposits.

Global miners to hire more staff

Despite the unpredictability of the global mining industry, the prospect of hiring more staff is on the cards, according to a survey by Pedersen & Partners.

From the 160 companies surveyed across the sector, 33% indicated that they will be hiring more staff, while 50% said they will maintain their work force.

The results show that:

• 28% indicate they will be hiring new employees,
• 5% indicate they will be bringing back staff that were laid off,
• 50% will maintain their current staffing levels, and
• 15% suggest they will be restructuring.

The survey noted that the overall perception is that miners appear to be cautiously optimistic with most firms predicting that 2013 will be very similar to last year or improving somewhat.

However, it was not all good news, several small mining firms with market caps below $10m will not survive through the next year, the survey stated.

"Those with proven projects and strong management reputations may be subject to acquisitions or find more fluid funding through private equity, streaming, flow through shares and eventually, some institutional financing."

According to respondents 47% expect mergers and acquisitions to be a part of their growth strategy this year, while 31% said it will be considered for the right opportunity and 22% ruled it out altogether.

The last five years have been a turbulent time for mines with the global recession, operational restructurings, production cuts as well as expenditure reduction. This resulted in flagging confidence in the mining sector.

Mining in SA

The mining sector in South Africa, which is the backbone of the economy, has faced several challenges in recent months, including proposed job cuts, a series of wildcat strikes and the Marikana massacre in which more than 44 people died.

Data released by Statistics South Africa in March showed that total mining production was 3.1% lower in 2012 compared with 2011.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan stated in his National Budget speech in February that mine strife resulted in a revenue shortfall of R16.3bn, estimated to be 5.2% of the 2012/13 gross domestic product.

However, Mines Minister Susan Shabangu said in February that the country is committed to a strong mining industry, adding that the industry had grown from 993 mines in 2004 to almost 1 600 mines.

"We will continue to ensure that an enabling environment is created, while at the same time developing an environment that is responsive to the changing global economic environment and the dynamism of the contemporary mining industry," she said.

US trade deficit shrinks to $43bn

The US trade deficit edged lower in February after a big jump in January, government data released Friday showed.
The commerce department reported the trade gap shrank to $43bn, down from the revised $44.7bn in January.
The decline, which came after a large 16.7% deficit increase in January, surprised analysts who had projected a deficit of $44.7bn.
US exports grew 0.8 percent to $186bn, strengthened by the exports of industrial goods (up 4.5%) and automobiles (up 1.6%).
Meanwhile, US imports held steady at $228.9bn.
US imports of crude oil, which represent more than 10% of imported goods by the US, dropped 5.6% to $23.6bn.
But US imports of foreign automobiles rose 4.6% between January and February to reach $24.8bn.
On a 12-month basis, the US trade deficit has dropped by 3.5%.

Ireland slowly recovering

Ireland's central bank said on Friday the country's gradual economic recovery was broadly on track, barely changing its growth forecasts but warning the government it could not afford to ease back on its austerity programme.
It predicted gross domestic product would expand by 1.2%, a touch below the 1.3% foreseen three months ago, and kept its 2014 growth forecast at 2.5%.
Bailed out in late 2010, Ireland has been one of the few eurozone economies to grow over the past two years and closed in on weaning itself off emergency assistance last month by raising €5bn ($6.42bn) in a landmark 10-year bond sale.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of Ireland's bailout lenders, struck a similar note on Wednesday when it said the economy would grow by 1.1% this year, the first time in six quarterly reviews it has not marked down its view for 2013.
However like the IMF, which cautioned that Ireland's gradual recovery remained highly uncertain, the central bank said its medium-term assessment for the export-focused economy relied on a pick-up in external demand from the second half of 2013.
"The gradual recovery of the Irish economy is continuing," the central bank said in its latest quarterly review.
"The prospects for such a recovery must be treated with some caution, however, given the high degree of uncertainty regarding the near-term outlook for world demand."
The bank said that while recent surveys, particularly in consumer sentiment, pointed to an easing in the rate of decline in the eurozone, the bloc was facing a delayed emergence from recession, and that would have knock-on effects for Ireland.
Export growth - driven completely by the booming services industry - would fall to 2.5% this year as a result, down on the 3% expected in January, while expansion in 2014 was marked down by just under the same amount to 5%.
That should be mostly offset by a lower than previously expected drop of 0.2% in consumer spending this year and slightly quicker rise of 0.4% in 2014. The fall in domestic demand may, finally, be nearing an end, the bank said.
With any growth in the domestic economy slight at best, unemployment is still forecast to fall only slightly, to 13.9% next year even though the estimated rate fell to 14% over the last two months.
The bank added that while unemployment rates for those with the lowest levels of education were around four times higher than those with third-level qualifications, in absolute terms the majority of the unemployed come from higher education.
It gave a cool reception to the government's promise to voters of a 20% reduction in the €5.1bn of austerity measures planned by 2015, following a deal struck with the European Central Bank to ease its the burden of its bank-assumed debt.
"Full implementation of the announced budget measures remains essential to preserve market confidence and to keep a buffer against negative shocks," the bank said.

Germans back Merkel's crisis management

A new poll shows Germans widely approve of Chancellor Angela Merkel's crisis management following a bailout deal for Cyprus, suggesting it remains a key asset for the leader as she prepares to seek a third term in elections in September.

The poll for ARD television published on Friday also showed Merkel's popularity riding high and that of centre-left challenger Peer Steinbrueck, who had a gaffe-strewn start to his campaign, sinking further.
But, although Merkel's conservative bloc is easily the biggest single party, it gave neither Merkel's current centre-right coalition nor the combination of Steinbrueck's Social Democrats and the Greens a parliamentary majority.
Merkel's hard-nosed handling of the debt crisis has long been popular at home, though many in the nations that have been bailed out resent the austerity and reform policies attached to the deals.
The poll of 1 002 people, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, found 65% agreed that Merkel has "acted correctly and decisively in the euro crisis”.
Only 33% thought that the German government thinks too little about the well-being of people in crisis-hit countries as it works to rescue the euro.
Fifty percent said it was right that investors and bank depositors in Cyprus had to contribute to the bailout for the small island nation.
Merkel's government was insistent that large depositors should help pay, but was criticised by Germany's opposition for initially accepting a short-lived plan that would have involved a levy on small deposits as well.
The survey found that 68% were satisfied with Merkel's work, unchanged from last month, and that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was close behind, with 63%. But Steinbrueck's rating was down four points to 32%.
Still, the survey pointed to one risk for Merkel: It found that 75% of respondents believed the worst of the euro crisis is still to come.
Germany's economy so far has been relatively unscathed by the crisis, even as several countries suffer recessions.
A new group calling itself Alternative for Germany, which advocates scrapping the euro in its current form, plans to launch itself as a party on 14 April and run in the 22 September elections.
It's unclear whether it will be able to make any impact; another party, the Free Voters, has failed to make any inroads with a more moderate platform of opposition to the current bailout policies.
The ARD poll gave a margin of error of plus or minus up to 3.1 points.

North Korea advises diplomats to leave

Foreign diplomats in Pyongyang huddled on Saturday to discuss a North Korean evacuation advisory as concerns grew that the isolated state was preparing a missile launch at a time of soaring nuclear tensions.
The heads of all EU missions had agreed to meet to hammer out a common position after Pyongyang warned embassies it would be unable to guarantee their safety if a conflict broke out and that they should consider leaving.
Most of their governments made it clear they had no plans to withdraw any personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the current crisis on the Korean peninsula.
"We believe they have taken this step as part of their country's rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them," a British Foreign Office spokesperson said in London.
Missiles
The embassy warning coincided with reports that North Korea had loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.
"The North is apparently intent on firing the missiles without prior warning," the South's Yonhap news agency quoted a senior government official as saying.
They were reported to be Musudan missiles, which have never been tested, but are believed to have a range of around 3 000km, which could theoretically be pushed to 4 000km with a light payload.
That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.
The White House said on Friday it "would not be surprised" by a missile test.
"We have seen them launch missiles in the past.... And it would fit their current pattern of bellicose, unhelpful and unconstructive rhetoric and actions," White House spokesperson Jay Carney said.
'Provocative act'
The Pentagon warned any such test would be "a provocative act", with spokesperson George Little urging Pyongyang to "follow international norms and abide by their commitments".
North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.
The North has no proven inter-continental ballistic missile capability that would enable it to strike more distant US targets, and many experts say it is unlikely it can even mount a nuclear warhead on a mid-range missile.
Nevertheless, the international community is becoming increasingly skittish that, with tensions showing no sign of de-escalating, there is a real risk of the situation spiralling out of control.
The latest expression of concern came from Communist icon Fidel Castro, who warned the danger of a nuclear conflict erupting was higher than it had been at any time since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
If war broke out on the Korean peninsula, "there would be a terrible slaughter of people", Castro wrote in a front-page article in Granma, the Cuban Communist Party's newspaper.
UN won't withdraw
The United Nations said it had no plans to pull staff out after the North Korean warning message to embassies and NGOs in Pyongyang.
Spokesperson Martin Nesirky said UN chief Ban Ki-moon was "studying the message," and added that UN staff "remain engaged in their humanitarian and developmental work" throughout North Korea.
According to the British Foreign office, embassies and organisations were told to inform the Pyongyang authorities by 10 April what assistance they would require should they wish to evacuate.
"Our understanding is that the North Koreans were asking whether embassies are intending to leave, rather than advising them to leave," the spokesperson said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was consulting with China over the warning, as well as the United States and other members of the stalled six-party talks on North Korea.
In South Korea, a Navy official told Yonhap that two Aegis destroyers with advance radar systems had been deployed - one off the east coast and one off the west coast - to track any missile launch.
North Korea refused on Saturday to lift a ban on South Koreans accessing their companies in a joint industrial zone on the North side of the border.
Entry to the Seoul-funded Kaesong complex has been barred since Wednesday.

Castro urges calm in North Korean crisis

Communist icon Fidel Castro on Friday called on North Korea and the United States to avoid confrontation and reminded both sides of their "duties" towards peace.

"If a war breaks out there, there would be a terrible slaughter of people" in both North and South Korea "with no benefit for either of them”, Castro wrote in a front-page article in Granma, the Communist Party's newspaper.
Now that the North Korean government "has demonstrated its technical and scientific advances, we remind them of their duties with those countries that have been their great friends."
Castro urged North Korea to remember that "such a war would affect... more than 70% of the planet's population”, and decried "the gravity of such an incredible and absurd event" in such a densely populated region.
Castro said the present crisis presents the most serious risk of a nuclear war since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, a two-week standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over placing nuclear missiles in Cuba.
The "duty" to avoid the conflict is also in the hands of Washington "and of the people of the United States”, Castro said.
If a war breaks out, President Barack Obama's second term "would be buried in a deluge of images that would portray him as the most sinister personality in the history of the United States."
Castro, 86, handed over power to his brother Raul in 2006 but remains influential in Cuba and among leftists worldwide.
Meeting Kim Il-Sung
In his article, the Cuban leader recalled "the honour" of meeting Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the North Korean regime and grandfather to current leader Kim Jong-un.
The late North Korean leader, who died in 1994, was a "historic figure, notably brave and revolutionary," Castro wrote.
Castro also wrote that North Korea "has always been friendly with Cuba, as Cuba has been always and will continue to be" friendly with North Korea.
Castro writes an occasional column titled "Reflections of Comrade Fidel" that runs in state media. This is his first column since June 2012.
North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.
On Thursday the North Korean army said it had received final approval for military action, possibly involving nuclear weapons, against the threat posed by US B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers taking part in the joint drills.