Kenya's economic growth slowed last year, outlook better

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economic growth eased to 5.3 percent in 2014 as tourism fell and agricultural output slowed, but should pick up this year, a minister said on Wednesday.

Gold Advances as Data Clouds Rate Outlook Before FOMC Meeting

Gold rebounded from the lowest level in five weeks as conflicting U.S. data clouded the outlook for higher rates before Federal Reserve policy makers meet this week and investors boosted holdings of the metal. Silver surged.

Japanese Yen to Look Past BOJ Decision, Focus on Greece and FOMC

The Bank of Japan seems unlikely to expand stimulus at its upcoming policy meeting. Recent comments from Governor Haruhiko Kuroda suggest he sees no urgency in fighting the pullback in headline inflation played out since mid-2014.

Russian economy shrinks 2% as sanctions bite - Medvedev

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia's economy shrank by 2% in the first three months of this year, the first contraction since 2009.

EU charges Gazprom with market abuse

The Commission said its preliminary view was that the Russian energy giant was breaking EU anti-trust rules. It added Gazprom may have limited its customers' ability to resell gas, potentially allowing it to charge unfair prices in some EU member states.

China’s central bank may take cue from Europe

BEIJING — China’s central bank is considering taking a page from Europe’s financial-crisis handbook to free up more credit as growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows.

Finance officials are warning of big risks tied to the global economic recovery

WASHINGTON (AP) — World finance officials said Saturday they see a number of threats on the horizon for a global economy still clawing back from the deepest recession in seven decades, and a potential Greek debt default presents the most immediate risk.

China's Economy Is Surging 7% but Everyone Thinks That's Too Slow

Most countries would be thrilled to have such a robust economy. And if the U.S. economy were expanding at anywhere near that level -- its GDP grew just 2.4% last year -- the Federal Reserve would already be raising interest rates.

Australia's economy: is the lucky country running out of luck?

After 24 years of uninterrupted economic growth, Australia is entering the kind of difficult waters experienced by every other major developed country in the past decade.

IMF: EU life insurers in danger from low interest rates

Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday that Europe's life insurers face a "high and rising threat" to their solvency from the long period of low interest rates.

The global economy’s bizarre problem: Too much money

If you’ve seen The Wolf of Wall Street, you know having too much money can be a problem. And too much money is part of the predicament that the world economy finds itself in right now.

Pound Drops to 5-Year Low After Output Data, Amid Election Risk

The pound fell to an almost five-year low against the dollar as U.K. industrial production rose less than economists forecast, damping demand for Britain’s currency.

Central banks pick up fewer U.S. Treasury securities-Fed data

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks increased their ownership of U.S. Treasury securities more slowly in the latest week, but still brought their Treasuries holdings at the Federal Reserve to their highest level in three months, Fed data on Thursday showed.

Wall St. Is Told to Tighten Digital Security of Partners

Wall Street’s oversight of cybersecurity measures at outside firms it does business with remains a work in progress, according to a review by New York State’s top financial regulator.

Japan Stands Pat on Stimulus Program

TOKYO — The Bank of Japan stuck with its monetary stimulus program on Wednesday, brushing off a lack of inflation two years after it vowed to pull the economy out of more than a decade of falling prices.

Gold Advances to Week-High as U.S. Jobs Data Clouds Rate Outlook

Gold climbed for a second day after data showing the weakest pace of U.S. hiring in more than a year clouded the outlook for interest-rate increases.

Get up to speed with the Greek debt crisis 3.0

The Godfather. Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars. Great dramas come in trilogies and Greece's debt crisis is no exception. After bailouts in 2010 and 2012, Greece is once again edging towards financial collapse. Here is what you need to know to get up to speed with the third installment of the Greek thriller.

Disappointing US job figures raise fears about recovery

American employers hired the fewest number of staff since 2013 in March, suggesting the recovery in the world’s biggest economy may be slowing.

Japan's ruling party wants 20 percent nuclear power in energy mix: media

(Reuters) - Japan's ruling party wants a revived nuclear power sector to eventually make up a fifth of electricity generation, local media said, a controversial move for a public opposed to nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

Bernanke Says Global Imbalances Bedevil the World Economy. Discuss.

Ben Bernanke and Larry Summers are in the midst of a vigorous blog debate about why the world’s economy is so messed up and how it can be fixed.