Global financial firm Barclays on Wednesday forecast India will have over 400,000 dollar-millionaires by 2017, making it a leading world wealth market.

The forecast came as it launched its wealth management business in India to provide client advisory and investment services to `high net worth` individuals.

BANGALORE, India, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Family-run companies that dominate Indian business have been quick to tap emerging market opportunities, but concerns remain over governance standards, Moody's said Monday.

Seventeen of the 30 companies on the Mumbai stock exchange's main Sensex index are family-controlled, signalling their powerful hold on the economy, the US-based credit assessor said in a study it conducted with its Indian unit.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The new president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, wants to allow private-sector companies to help finance aid to the poorest countries, an innovation already stirring controversy.

The unprecedented outreach already has met with a positive response, Zoellick said here Thursday at a news conference here, without naming the companies.

'This is at an early stage,' Zoellick said in response to a question about a Financial Times interview published Thursday in which he revealed the World Bank's new strategy.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The World Bank is in talks with the private sector to broaden its base of of support for helping the world's poor, Bank president Robert Zoellick said Thursday.

The unprecedented outreach already has met with a positive response, Zoellick said at a news conference here, without naming the companies.

'This is at an early stage,' Zoellick said in response to a question about a Financial Times interview published Thursday in which he revealed the World Bank's new strategy.

BEIJING, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - China had 345,000 millionaires by the end of last year, the second-most in Asia after Japan, according to a new study by US investment bank Merrill Lynch.

The number of Chinese US dollar millionaires was up 7.8 percent from the year before, helped by a stock market that saw its value soar 130 percent over the 12 months, according to the study, co-authored with consultancy Capgemini.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - The Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) said Tuesday it was taking Irish low-cost airline Ryanair to court for alleged compensation infringements.

"Ryanair does not give passengers the compensation they are entitled to when a flight is cancelled. That is why KO has now decided to take Ryanair to court," the agency said in a statement.

KO said it would represent a Swedish couple in their court case against the airline and noted that victory could secure a legal precedent.

LAGOS, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Nigeria to sustain current efforts to tame inflationary pressures in the oil-rich west African country.

"Inflation has been in line with expectations, but the central bank needs to remain vigilant to ensure that inflationary pressures do not re-emerge," the IMF said in a statement Tuesday.

There has been a monthly drop in inflation figures in Nigeria since last year due to a slew of fiscal and belt-tightening measures by the government.

PARIS, 16 oct 2007 (AFP) - French energy and utility group Suez said Tuesday it had acquired a 33 percent stake in Spanish water supplier Aguas de Valencia from Saur of France for 135 million euros (191 million dollars).

The general director of unit Suez Environnement, Jean-Louis Chaussade, later said Suez did not intend to take full control of Aguas de Valencia.

"We have no intention of becoming a majority shareholder," he told a tele-conference.

LJUBLJANA, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - The Slovenian unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent in August from 7.6 percent in July, the Slovenian Statistics Office said Tuesday.

The August outcome compared with the year-earlier 9.1 percent, the office said in a statement.

The number of unemployed in August stood at 68,539 out of a total workforce of 923,124, compared with 70,134 in July and 83,056 in August 2006.

ANKARA, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - About 25,000 workers of Turkey's telecommunications giant Turk Telekom went on strike Tuesday, causing communication disruptions and slowdowns in densely populated regions.

The strike began at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) after salary negotiations between the company and the Haber-Is trade union collapsed overnight.

Maintainance and repair works were the worst affected areas as Turk Telekom struggled to keep services running with non-union employees who did not join the strike.

LONDON, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - British mortgage lender Northern Rock revealed Tuesday that it has borrowed about 13 billion pounds (18.6 billion euros, 26 billion dollars) in emergency funds from the Bank of England since last month.

Northern Rock ran into serious trouble in September when global credit market turmoil forced it to ask the BoE for financial help -- sparking the first run on a British bank in living memory.

BEIJING, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - China's CITIC Bank may bid for US investment bank Bear Stearns, a Wall Street icon tracing its roots back to the 1920s, a Chinese government official said Tuesday.

"CITIC Bank is considering a bid for Bear Stearns," Jiang Dingzhi, vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the industry watchdog, told reporters.

It was the first time that a potential Chinese buyer was mentioned in connection with the future of the US financial giant, which was badly hit by a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector.

PARIS, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - A cash scandal at the employer's federation MEDEF threatened a major upheaval of France's system of industrial relations Tuesday, as evidence strengthened that for years businesses have been secretly funding their trade union adversaries.

Denis Gautier-Sauvagnac, head of the powerful Metal Industries Federation (UIMM), is under police investigation after it was revealed earlier this month that some 17 million euros (24 million dollars) had been withdrawn in cash from UIMM accounts since 2000.

LONDON, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - British inflation was unchanged in September at 1.8 percent, continuing below the central bank's target of 2.0 percent for the third month in a row, official data showed Tuesday.

The Consumer Price Index showed a year-on-year increase of 1.8 percent in September, in line with August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It was the third month running that Britain's annual inflation rate has stood below the Bank of England's 2.0-percent target. Analyst forecasts were for inflation to stand at 1.9 percent in Septemer.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Ericsson saw its share price slashed by a third Tuesday after the world's leading mobile networks maker said its third quarter earnings would be lower than expected, confirming a slowdown in the networks sector amid rising competition from Asia.

Ericsson saw more than more than 100 billion kronor (15 billion dollars, 11 billion euros) go up in smoke when its share value slumped by 29 percent to 18.76 kronor on the Stockholm stock exchange in midday trade.

SHANGHAI, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - French food giant Danone, which is embroiled in a long and bitter public feud with a Chinese partner, said Tuesday it was backing out of another venture in the fast-growing Asian market.

Groupe Danone SA will sell its entire 20.01 percent stake in Shanghai-based Bright Dairy and Food for 955 million yuan (127 million dollars), separate company statements said.

BERLIN, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - German Environment Minister Gabriel Sigmar on Tuesday condemned sharp rises in gas and electricity prices for consumers at a time when inflation is at its highest level for two years.

Gabriel told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper the rises were "nonsense".

The country's biggest energy supplier, EON, will increase electricity bills by up to 9.9 percent and the price of gas will rise 8.8 percent from January.

FRANKFURT, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - The European Central Bank said Tuesday it had awarded 171 billion euros (243 billion dollars) in a regular refinancing operation that saw less demand and lower bids than a week earlier.

The results suggested that while commercial banks still seek ECB funds to meet minimum currency reserves they are less prepared to pay high fees, a possible sign of easing pressure on eurozone money markets.

An ECB statement said the weighted average interest rate on accepted bids fell to 4.14 percent from 4.16 percent a week earlier.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Kuwait's Central Bank raised the value of the dinar by 0.53 percent against the flagging US currency on Tuesday, with one dollar now worth 0.27875 dinars.

The dollar previously stood at 0.28025 dinars, and Tuesday's move marked the highest value of the dinar against the dollar in more than two decades.

On May 20, the oil-rich Gulf emirate pegged its dinar to a basket of currencies after more than four years of linking it to the dollar, in a bid to reduce inflation.

Since then, the dinar has gained 3.6 percent against the dollar.

LONDON, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - World oil prices hurtled to fresh record highs on Tuesday, striking close to 88 dollars per barrel in New York amid fears over tensions between Turkey and Kurdish rebels in crude producer Iraq.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, surged to an historic 87.97 dollars per barrel in late morning deals.

London's Brent North Sea crude for November delivery soared to a fresh all-time high of 84.31 dollars per barrel.

BRUSSELS, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Inflation in the 13 nations sharing the euro surged in September over the European Central Bank's preferred level of 2.0 percent, official EU data showed Tuesday.

Annual inflation in the eurozone shot up to 2.1 percent in September from 1.7 percent in August, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said, confirming a previous estimate.

But the spike in inflation, which was in line with economists' forecasts, was largely expected because of the impact of oil prices over the comparable period a year ago.

LONDON, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Europe's main stock markets were lower Tuesday after investor sentiment was hit by a profit warning from Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson and record high oil prices.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.48 percent to 6,612.30 points, the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.83 percent to 5,759.03 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 0.36 percent to 7,941.06 points.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares slid 0.63 percent to 4,406.96 points.

The euro stood at 1.4160 dollars.

BEIJING, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - China's CITIC Bank may bid for Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns, a senior Chinese government official said Tuesday.

"CITIC Bank is considering a bid for Bear Stearns," Jiang Dingzhi, vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the industry watchdog, told reporters.

It was the first time that a potential Chinese buyer was mentioned in connection with the future of the US financial giant, which was badly hit by a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector.

FRANKFURT, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Germany, the biggest eurozone economy, has been hit by the international credit squeeze but should rebound, although with less vigour than earlier this year, surveys and analysts said Tuesday.

German investor confidence was stable in October, suggesting that the sharpest of the adjustments following the credit market crisis may now have taken place, a poll by the ZEW research institute showed.

The closely-watched economic expectations index remained at minus 18.1 points, the same level as in September.

MELBOURNE, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Australia's competition watchdog on Tuesday recommended a company headed by the country's third richest man, cardboard box billionaire Richard Pratt, pay a record fine for participating in a cartel.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) called for Pratt's company Visy to pay a 36 million dollar (32.4 million US) fine for breaching anti-trust laws through a secret price-fixing deal struck with rival Amcor.

The previous Australian record fine for cartel behaviour was 15 million dollars.

BUDAPEST, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Industrial output in Hungary expanded by 0.9 month-on-month and by 9.5 percent year-on-year, a slight slowdown compared with the previous month, official data showed Tuesday.

In July, industrial production had increased by 1.4 percent on a monthly basis and by 12.1 percent on a 12-month basis, the central statistics bureau KSH said.

Taking the first eight months of 2007, Hungarian industrial output grew by 9.0 percent compared with the January-August period of 2006, the statisticians calculated.

SINGAPORE, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Brent crude oil breached the 83-dollar mark for the first time in Asian trade on Tuesday to reach a new all-time record price of 83.09 dollars per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for November delivery was 34 cents higher in afternoon trade, after spiking 2.20 dollars to 82.75 dollars per barrel in London on Monday.

World oil prices have jumped to new records amid mounting tension between Turkey and Kurdish rebels across the border in Iraq, dealers said.

KAESONG, North Korea, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - North and South Korea on Tuesday marked the completion of phase one of a flagship joint industrial zone which supporters hope could help reunite the countries one day.

The neighbours, divided along the last Cold War frontier, staged a ceremony at the sprawling Kaesong complex in North Korea, which is cut off from the rest of the Stalinist nation by a massive green wire fence.

BEIJING, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - The Chinese government wants more of the nation's state-owned enterprises to list on the Hong Kong market, official media reported, citing the chief official in charge of state assets.

"(We) encourage state-owned enterprises to list in Hong Kong," said Li Rongrong, the head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, according to a Xinhua news agency report late Monday.

"But the actual concrete decision on listing must be made by the companies themselves."

SINGAPORE, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Crude oil prices surged to fresh records above 86 dollars per barrel in Asia on Tuesday amid fears of supply disruption due to rising tension between Turkey and Kurdish rebels in neighbouring Iraq.

In afternoon trade New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was trading at 86.75 dollars per barrel, 62 cents higher than in late New York trades on Monday.

LIBREVILLE, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Rich iron ore reserves in Gabon have yet to be tapped, but a planned mine has touched off a battle between development and environmental concerns and highlights China's relentless foray into Africa.

Local ecologists last week demanded the publication of a contract signed in 2006 between the government and a Chinese consortium awarded the rights to mine the metal in the northeast of the densely forested equatorial African country.

BASEL, Switzerland, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche on Tuesday announced a 12-percent jump in its turnover to 33.9 billion Swiss francs (20.2 billion euros, 28.7 billion dollars) in the first nine months of 2007.

The figures included a 12-percent rise in sales of Tamiflu.

Some countries have started stockpiling the drug, which was developed as a weapon against any bird-flu pandemic, although Roche said Tamiflu sales had fallen off in the third quarter as the stockpiling orders were completed.

SHANGHAI, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - French food giant Danone, which is embroiled in a long and bitter public feud with a Chinese partner, said Tuesday it was backing out of another venture in the fast-growing Asian behemoth.

Groupe Danone SA will sell its entire 20.01 percent stake in Shanghai-based Bright Dairy and Food for 955 million yuan (127 million dollars), separate company statements said.

MOSCOW, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Russian oil major Rosneft on Tuesday announced net profits, barring exceptional items, of 2.347 billion dollars (1.7 billion euros) for the first half of 2007, a 20.9 percent rise on the same period last year.

The country's biggest oil company said that including exceptionals, particularly proceeds from the dismembered Yukos oil group, profits rocketed 326.5 percent to just over 8.0 billion dollars.

Turnover during the first six months was 19.005 billion dollars, up 19.3 percent, the company said in a statement.

FRANKFURT, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Germany is to propose a new law protecting companies from takeovers by foreign state-owned investment funds, a report said Tuesday.

Under the terms of the draft law, no foreign company would be allowed to hold more than 25 percent of a German company that is related to "public safety" or "strategic infrastructure," the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper said.

The law would not be limited to specific industries, it said.

PARIS, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Russian industrial output growth slowed further in September to 3.0 percent year-on-year, the lowest rate so far in 2007, the national statistics office Rosstat said Tuesday.

Industrial output growth was 3.8 percent in August following 7.8 percent in July and 10.9 percent in June.

For the nine months period to September, industrial output was up 6.6 percent, Rosstat said.

FRANKFURT, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated in an interview Tuesday that the Chinese yuan should be allowed to rise to help correct global current account imbalances.

Trichet also noted again "with great attention" that US authorities had stated they want a strong dollar.

"In emerging economies with large and growing current account surpluses, especially China, it is desirable that their effective exchange rates move so that necessary adjustments occur," he told Russian newspaper Izvestia.

MOSCOW, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Russia's former minister for trade and economic development, German Gref, was nominated Tuesday to become the new head of state-owned bank Sberbank, the company said in a statement.

The partially privatised bank's monitoring council "recommends Gref's candidacy," the statement said.

Outgoing Sberbank CEO Andrei Kazmin, recently appointed as head of the state postal service, said his replacement would be named at a shareholder's meeting on November 28, Russian news agencies reported.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Swedish telecommunication equipment maker Ericsson said Tuesday its third quarter earnings would be lower than anticipated due to an unexpected drop in revenue from mobile network expansions.

"The unexpected development in the quarter is mainly due to a shortfall in sales in mobile network upgrades and expansions which resulted in an unfavourable business mix that also negatively affected group margins," Ericsson's chief executive Carl Henric Svanberg said in a statement.

"All other businesses performed as expected," he said.

NAIROBI, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Kenyan regulators have approved a bid by a local branch of South Africa's Standard Bank (Stanbic) to buy majority stake in the Kenyan CFC bank, making the new entity the fourth largest in the country, a report said Tuesday.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the Capital Markets Authority and the Monopolies Commissioner approved Stanbic's bid to buy 60 percent of Kenya's CFC, the head of Stanbic Bank in Kenya, Mike du Toit, told the Standard Newspaper.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Shares in Swedish telecommunication equipment maker Ericsson shed 25 percent