MILAN, Oct 9, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank is to lower its 2009 eurozone economic growth forecast from the current estimate of 1.2 percent, ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in comments published Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Europe is being hit by 'extraordinary financial stress' that is pushing several countries into or close to recession, the IMF warned Wednesday as it slashed growth forecasts for the region.

The IMF said the world is entering a serious downturn 'in the face of the most dangerous shock' in financial markets since the 1930s Great Depression.

BRUSSELS, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Dramatic, coordinated interest rate cuts by leading central banks on Wednesday won high marks from European businesses, with umbrella association BusinessEuropee saying it would help restore confidence.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - EU countries launched a joint pledge Monday to protect individual savers and the ailing financial system, despite persisting divisions over whether a US-style bailout fund is needed.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - European finance ministers face pressure Monday and Tuesday to contain the US-born financial crisis whipping through Europe as the idea of a joint US-style bailout fund resurfaces.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Monday that they would not let big financial groups fail, in continuing efforts to avert a wider meltdown, said the chairman of the Eurogroup minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Leading officials of the 15-nation eurozone group said Monday that big banks fighting for survival would not be allowed to fail and the money market would be kept flush with central bank cash.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - EU countries battled on Monday to assure people that they would prop up the ailing banking system and protect their savings as the financial crisis whipped through Europe.

FRANKFURT, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank has opened the door to a rate cut in the coming months as its president Jean-Claude Trichet prepares for high-level financial talks in Paris on Saturday, analysts said.

Services activity in the 15 countries sharing the euro contracted in
September although not by as much as first estimated, according to a
survey on Friday.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The chair of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday he was very relieved that the US Senate had adopted a plan to bail out the banking sector.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The chair of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday he was very relieved that the US Senate had adopted a plan to bail out the banking sector.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The global banking crisis and weak economic growth have increased the pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates but it will likely opt for no change again on Thursday, economists say.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The global banking crisis and weak economic growth raised pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates when it met on Thursday but economists said it would probably opt for no change again.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB Thursday had considered cutting interest rates, signalling a sharp change of course amid unprecedented turmoil on global markets.

'We have examined two options,' Trichet told a press conference in Frankfurt after the bank left its main lending rate unchanged at 4.25 percent.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB had considered cutting interest rates Thursday, signalling a sharp change of course amid unprecedented turmoil on global markets.

'We have examined two options,' Trichet told a press conference in Frankfurt after the bank left its main lending rate unchanged at 4.25 percent.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank (ECB) kept its key lending rate steady at 4.25 percent on Thursday despite rising pressure from the global financial crisis and weakening economic growth.

The widely expected decision left the bank's other key rates -- the deposit rate and the marginal lending rate -- unchanged at 3.25 percent and 5.25 percent respectively.

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank left its main lending rate unchanged at 4.25 percent Thursday despite growing pressure from the international banking crisis and slumping eurozone economies.

Worries that higher wages could stoke inflation were believed to have helped convince ECB governors that the time was not yet ripe for a rate cut.

PARIS, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Growth in the eurozone economy is likely to be weaker than expected in 2009 at about one percent, the head of the eurogroup of finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday.

FRANKFURT, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank will likely keep its main lending rate steady on Thursday amid unprecedented market turbulence but pressure is building for a cut in the coming months, analysts say.

PARIS, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker insisted Wednesday that there was 'no threat' to Europe's banking system, despite a series of urgent measures to prop up banks shaken by world financial turmoil.

PARIS, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank should take into account the effects of the current financial crisis when it meets to set its main lending rate, France's minister for European affairs said Wednesday.

FRANKFURT, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - European banks were sucked Monday into turmoil spawned by the US financial crisis, with bailouts, sales and attacks on the shares of financial institutions multiplying across the continent.

FRANKFURT, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - A global financial crisis slammed European banks Monday in an assault that analysts said underscored vulnerability to problems created on the other side of the Atlantic.

FRANKFURT, Sept 28, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank is under pressure from the US banking crisis to mull a cut in its main lending rate, but analysts feel the ECB will see inflation as a reason to hold out a little longer.

LUXEMBOURG, Sept 26, 2008 (AFP) - The chairman of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, urged US authorities on Friday to agree quickly a bailout plan for the crisis-struck financial sector.

BRUSSELS, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - The crisis roiling the financial sector is weighing on the European economy but Europe does not so far need a US-style bailout plan, the European Commission's top economic official said Wednesday.

'There can be no doubt that events in the financial sector are hurting the real economy,' Almunia told lawmakers at the European Parliament.

FRANKFURT, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - Germany, France and Italy, the leading eurozone economies, appear on the brink of recession after business confidence surveys hit multi-year lows amid the global financial crisis, analysts said.

FRANKFURT, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - Leading eurozone economies are on the brink of recession as business confidence surveys released Wednesday hit three- to five-year lows amid a global financial crisis, analysts said.

BRUSSELS, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - Europe's job market is set to take a turn for the worse in the second half of the year as the economy struggles, the European Commission said on Monday.

BRUSSELS, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - The 15 nations sharing the euro saw their trade balance slide deeper into deficit in July as imports grew faster than exports, according to official EU data on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - The European economy will suffer collateral damage from the crisis roiling the financial sector, although the extent of the fallout remains to be seen, ministers and analysts warned on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - Inflation in the 15 countries sharing the euro came off record highs in August, providing a rare upbeat note as the threat of recession looms, official EU data showed on Tuesday.

FRANKFURT, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - The European Central Bank said Tuesday it allocated 150 billion euros (213 billion dollars) in a regular weekly refinancing operation that saw markedly higher interest rates following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

NICE, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - The current crisis roiling the financial