US & World News

Industrial production in France rose 0.4% in February, show statistics released Monday by the INSEE.

This increase is consistent with Reuters based on forecasts of 26 economists, and their estimates ranged from -0.5% to +1.1%.

The increase in industrial output in January was revised to 0.7% against 1.0% originally announced last month.

Manufacturing output, which is to say, but including non-energy food, rose 0.7% in February after rising 1.5% in January.

The activity of coking and refining increased 3.3% from one month to another, that of transport equipment 2.3% (+1.0% for cars, 3.8% for other materials).

On the downside, the production of textiles and apparel was down 0.2%, the wood industry, paper, printing a decline of 1.8%.

The food sector shows a steady production from one month to another. Energy production and water decreased by 1.8% in parallel.

In construction activity fell 0.1% after rising by 13.5% in January.

The quarter from December to February, industrial production rose 2.3% from the previous quarter the increase was 2.4% for manufacturing.

Compared to comparable three months of the previous year, industrial production rose by 6.0%, manufacturing 6.8%.

Toyota Motor said Friday it would begin to cut production at its plants in North America next week to adapt to disruptions in supplies resulting from the earthquake of 11 March.

Production will be suspended on 15, 18, 22 and 25 April. She will also be on April 21, except in Georgetown (Kentucky).

Toyota believes it has produced 35,000 fewer vehicles than expected in North America from March 11 to April 25, said spokesman Mike Goss.

Toyota has not decided anything beyond April 25.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said Friday that production and exports are expected to remain low for now because of the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast of the archipelago on March 11.

"The production will stagnate at a low level for now but will begin to increase as the constraints on the supply diminish," writes the Japanese central bank in its monthly report.

On households, the BoJ believes that even if demand for certain basic commodities has increased, the erosion of trust limits the tendency for consumption.

Given the budget crisis, the Portuguese government decided to seek international assistance, said Wednesday Prime Minister Jose Socrates during a televised speech.

The European Commission has been requested to enable the country to finance its economy, "said the prime minister resigned.

The discharge end of March its austerity plan by parliament, which prompted him to resign, has worsened the financial situation of the country and issued a call for help "inevitable", he also said.

Jose Socrates said he was trying to get the best deal possible in negotiations over the aid, which he did not specify the exact nature or amount.

The social climate is deteriorating at the National Assembly. The reason: the members who are beginning to prepare the ground for re-election next legislative strengthening their teams riding by slashing their workforces in Paris.

While the race is cantonal just completed one of the laws, which follow the presidential election in spring 2012, has already begun. A hint: the social climate has deteriorated markedly in the aisles of the National Assembly. "As before each parliamentary election, relations between members and some of their employees are deteriorating. Since the beginning of the year, a twenty cases of dismissal arrived on my desk, "says Jean Francois Breaking the Secretary General of the Union of parliamentary assistants.

The story is always the same.To prepare for their reelection, parliamentarians are in working order their teams did not hesitate to jettison some Parisian associates to strengthen their squads riding. Because the members themselves manage their workforce, as real owners of small SMEs.

The Assembly shall pay to each member because some 9138 euros per month to pay up to 5 people. Contributions are, themselves, supported by the National Assembly. Parliamentarians to set wages, nature of employment contracts and missions to accomplish. Almost everything is permitted … The credit is used to pay employee both a driver, a secretary or a head well done to assist the member in his legislative work."In pre-election period, some lawmakers prefer to slow their legislative activity to Paris to concentrate on their riding and their re-election," said a legislative assistant. "The campaign is actually launched and I am afraid that the list said Stavros Dimas, right and left," said Jean Francois Brittle. Evidence that cronyism has no political color.

The brewer SABMiller is considering an offer on Schincariol, the second largest brewer in Brazil, sold for two billion dollars, writes the Sunday Times, without citing sources.

Heineken may also be interested, the paper said.

SABMiller, the world's second largest brewer, has declined comment.

Documents published by the Fed show that at the height of the crisis, Dexia has borrowed up to $ 33.5 billion to the U.S. central bank.

The Central Bank of the United States revealed Thursday, March 31 generous amounts of aid it has given to the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia after its nationalization in September 2008, with up to $ 33.5 billion loan at the height of the financial crisis. The amount of these loans is renewed day by day as it is reasonable to assume that the Fed has significantly reduced the bill for this rescue for France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The documents released by the Fed show that Dexia holds the world record of emergency loans from the Fed. Neither the bank nor the governments who have saved, including that of Nicolas Sarkozy, have never spoken.In a statement released Friday, Dexia said it had "used the credit facilities the Fed's emergency funding for U.S. assets."

Dexia, formed in 1996 from the merger of Credit Local de France and Credit Communal de Belgique, seemed to withstand the financial crisis to the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers September 15, 2008. She had been receiving in the second quarter. But this would suddenly freeze bankrupted the market for loans to banks. Unable to refinance with his counterparts and investors paralyzed Dexia turns to two weeks to emergency loans from the Fed. It passes through a U.S. subsidiary, Dexia Credit Local New York Branch. It comes to the discount window the Fed, which provides loans directly to banks when they can not find money on the interbank market.

The first loan on Sept. 29 is six billion dollars, to pay the next day. Appears in the thousands of pages of documents submitted by the Fed to the press in Washington, at the request of financial information company Bloomberg and Fox Business channel, invoking U.S. law the right to information . The day after Sept. 30, France injects € 3bn stake in Dexia, Belgium the same amount, and Luxembourg 376 million euros. Bankruptcy seems prevented by the nationalization.

But the troubles did not end there. And Dexia will renew day after day its loan to the Fed, who pockets every time interest. The financial crisis is worsening and needs swell. October 15, Dexia repay the Fed for $ 7 billion in 15 new loan immediately.The bar is exceeded 20 billion on Oct. 20, that 30 billion on Oct. 24. The peak will be reached on November 12 with 33.5 billion dollars.

The Franco-Belgian bank will then gradually reduce the amount. End of March 2009, she still has $ 30 billion to the Fed. This amount falls to $ 10 billion in mid-April 5 billion in May. And the last loan of 4 billion in November 2009 expires in February 2010.

The main activity of Dexia in the United States in 2008 was that its subsidiary FSA, which assured investors against the risk of failure of the federal states and local communities. It has caused $ 1.26 billion loss in 2008. Dexia was sold to a competitor in July 2009. France remains a major shareholder in the group today, directly (5.7%) and through the Caisse des Depots et Consignations (17.7%).Belgium, too, with 14.1% for the Holding Communal (local) and 11.4% shared between the federal government and three regions (Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia).