Finance & Business World

It has been a bittersweet anniversary for Chile’s rescued miners, who were honored as heroes in their hometown only to come under attack by anti-government protesters who threw fruit and small stones at them, accusing them of being ungrateful, greedy sellouts.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and his ministers joined most of the 33 miners Friday at a Catholic Mass and then the inauguration of a regional museum exhibit recognizing their remarkable survival story.

But the events were marred by scuffles between riot police and students, teachers, environmentalists and other miners, all trying to make Pinera bow to their pressure on issues from reforming public education and increasing miners’ pay to stopping controversial dams and power plants.

Some of the activists threw oranges and apples at the miners, accusing them of getting too cozy with Pinera’s government and trying to cash in on their fame.

The treatment shocked rescued miner Omar Reygadas into silence. His son told The Associated Press in an interview that his father was deeply hurt to be accused of selling out to the government. Other activists shouted that the miners were trying to get rich with their $17 million lawsuit accusing Chile’s mine regulator of failing to enforce safety requirements.

“My father was saddened, deeply saddened. He doesn’t understand how people could act this way,” said his son, also named Omar Reygadas. “When I got home I found him sitting alone, very sad. I asked him what happened and at first he wouldn’t say anything, but gradually he let on what happened.”

Some Chilean newspapers called the attack a low blow, especially considering how many of the miners still suffer from psychological problems after being stuck for 69 days underground.

“They aren’t heroes … they’re victims who are simply trying to recover from their tragedy,” El Diario de Atacama, Copiapo’s hometown newspaper, printed Saturday under a picture showing riot police with a confiscated box of oranges and apples activists had thrown at the honorees.

“We have become accustomed to judging the 33 of Atacama, forgetting that they’ve only been victims of the terrible circumstances that confront hundreds of Chileans every day.”

Psychologist Alberto Iturra, who was part of the medical team that participated in the mine rescue, criticized the incident, saying the attack on the miners was “irrational, crazy.”

He said the incident is “part of a process of alienation _ which implies not distinguishing spaces, people or anything, not being conscious of what they’re doing _ that the students suffer from.”

The miners were clearly grateful for Pinera’s leadership of the rescue mission, which succeeded in bringing them all out alive more than two months after the Aug. 5, 2010 collapse. “I wouldn’t be here talking with you today” if Pinera hadn’t become personally involved, miner Jose Fuentes told the AP. “We were down there praying that he would do it.”

But Pinera’s ministers also are defending the government against the miners’ suit, saying that they have to protect the Chilean taxpayers.

Pinera’s popularity has plunged to 26 percent, the lowest of any president since Chile recovered its democracy in 1990, as protests have roiled the country. Environmentalists hope to block hydroelectric dams in southern Patagonia and a huge coal-fired energy plant in northern Chile. Unionized miners have briefly paralyzed the nation’s largest copper mines, costing companies millions of dollars in lost production. Mapuche Indians have occupied ancestral lands, setting off violent confrontations with police and landowners. Striking high school and university students have taken over their schools and stopped classes for more than two months.

At the museum on Friday, Pinera appealed for an end to the unrest.

“The time of the protests, the strikes, the takeovers, the violence has passed. Now has come the time to construct and not keep destroying, the time of dialogue and not of intransigence; the time of solutions and not of confrontation, the time of unity and not of division,” Pinera said.

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Portugal’s financial plight deepened Wednesday, with borrowing rates jumping higher and stocks slumping after its bonds were downgraded to junk status. Spain and Italy were dragged into the downturn, adding new momentum to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

Portugal’s hopes of slowly emerging from its debt crisis were knocked by ratings agency Moody’s, which downgraded Portugal’s debt four notches Tuesday and said the country will likely follow Greece in needing a second rescue package.

Portugal took a euro78 billion ($112 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund earlier this year after jittery investors began charging it unsustainably steep returns on loans.

After the abrupt worsening of Portugal’s financial situation, neighboring Spain immediately suffered a knock-down effect, with Madrid’s main stock index down 1.5 percent in midday trading while its bond yields rose. Spain, a much bigger country, up until now has so far managed to dodge major fallout from the continent’s fiscal woes.

In Italy, stocks were down 2 percent Wednesday on concerns that current spending cuts were not enough to resolve the country’s high debt level.

“The increasing risk is Italy gets caught up further in the contagion, and the bond market vigilantes dictate a more abrupt pace for its adjustment,” said Alan Ruskin, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

The Moody’s downgrade triggered new outrage in Portugal, where austerity measures over the past year have included tax hikes, pay freezes and welfare cuts.

Fernando Faria de Oliveira, the head of Portugal’s largest bank Caixa Geral de Depositos, which is state-owned, described the downgrade as “immoral and insulting.” Antonio Sousa, head of the Portuguese Bank Association, said it was “incomprehensible.”

Even Barclays Capital Research said the severity of the downgrade was surprising, adding it “seems more like a reaction to the Greek situation.”

Still, the tensions created by the Moody’s report were reflected in a Portuguese bond sale. Although the country managed to raise euro848 million ($1.2 billion) from markets, investors demanded a high return.

The Portuguese debt agency said the yield in the sale of 3-month Treasury bills was 4.926 percent. That was up from 4.863 percent on the same bills in mid-June and not far from the record 4.967 percent on June 1.

The yield on Portuguese 10-year bonds rose to 12.2 percent, while the Lisbon stock exchange fell 2.4 percent with banks leading the decline.

Unicredit economist Tullia Bucco said the threat of possible private sector burden-sharing in Portugal, currently being discussed for Greece, increased the chances of it being shut out of the market beyond 2013, when it hopes to resume bond issues.

Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, a spokesman for the EU’s Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, also hit out at the Moody’s downgrade, saying “the timing of Moody’s decision is not only questionable but also based on absolutely hypothetical scenarios which are not in line at all with the economic program.”

“This is an unfortunate episode and it raises once more the issue of the appropriateness of behavior of rating agencies and of their clairvoyance,” Tardio said in Brussels.

Portugal faces a daunting task in reducing its debt load _ it is in a recession, with its economy expected to contract 4 percent through next year, and unemployment stands at a record 12.4 percent.

A center-right coalition government that took office last month has promised to abide by debt targets and economic reforms demanded in return for the bailout. It has already introduced new austerity measures, including a one-off supplemental tax on personal income this year, and said it would accelerate a privatization program.

The grim economic prospects will likely make it harder for Portugal to settle its debts, propelling it into a downward spiral, and fuel investor worries about the 17-nation eurozone’s fiscal health, especially as Greece struggles to restore market confidence.

The government debt agency said last week it wants to raise up to euro6.5 billion in Treasury bill auctions over the next three months.

In Spain, the difference between the yield on the 10-year government bonds on the secondary market and the benchmark German equivalent, edged up to 262 basis points Wednesday after closing at 247 Tuesday. The jump was significant, but remained far below the 300-point high reached last week amid fears of contagion from the Greek debt crisis.

Spain’s Treasury will test market confidence in the country’s ability to handle its debt with three- and five-year bond auctions on Thursday.

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Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed to this report.

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Boeing Co.’s long-delayed 787 completed its maiden trans-Pacific journey and landed in Japan, where the more fuel-efficient jet will undergo testing this week with All Nippon Airways in preparation for its first commercial launch.

The “Dreamliner” touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from Seattle early Sunday to applause and a white “Welcome to Japan” banner held by flight attendants and workers. Two fire trucks shot out celebratory arches of water as the aircraft approached the hangar.

ANA even offered a live video feed of the landing on Ustream. As of Sunday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 37,000 times.

Pilot Masayuki Ishii said he stayed calm during the flight but grew emotional upon landing and seeing the excitement on the ground.

“I was moved beyond my own expectations,” he told reporters.

The 787’s much-anticipated arrival marks the near-end of a long wait by ANA, the first customer in line for the next-generation aircraft. Boeing missed the initial May 2008 delivery target and has repeatedly delayed its introduction because of problems in development.

The twin-engine jet is made mostly of carbon fiber and other composite materials instead of aluminum, making it lighter and 20 percent more fuel-efficient than other mid-sized airliners, according to Boeing.

As airlines around the world grapple with rising fuel prices, demand is high for low-consumption planes.

Chicago-based Boeing Co. has taken orders for 835 of the Dreamliners, and hopes to deliver the first one to ANA in August or September.

ANA has ordered 55 787s. Qantas and United Continental Holdings Inc. have each ordered 50, and Japan Airlines has ordered 35.

Rival Airbus’ competitor with the 787, the A350, is scheduled to enter service with Qatar Airways in 2013. Airbus has racked up nearly 600 orders for the new jetliner, which is also made mainly of carbon-fiber polymers.

ANA, the world’s eighth-largest airline by revenue, considers the Dreamliner an integral part of its global expansion efforts. Because of the 787’s range, ANA plans to use it on a number of new long-haul routes that were not previously commercially viable because there were not enough passengers to justify using larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747.

The cabin will have bigger windows and larger overhead compartments. ANA also says passengers will be more comfortable because air pressure during flights will be equivalent to an altitude of 6,000 feet instead of the conventional 8,000 feet.

Masami Tsukamoto, another pilot who flew from Seattle on Sunday, said the higher oxygen level made a noticeable difference on the nine-hour trip.

“Maybe part of it was because we were excited, but compared to regular flights from Los Angeles or San Francisco, I didn’t feel so tired,” he said.

The test aircraft will fly several of ANA’s domestic routes out of Tokyo this week to confirm the jet’s readiness for passenger travel. Maintenance crews will also practice refueling, towing and other routine servicing operations.

It is scheduled to depart for Seattle on Saturday, according to ANA.

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AP Airlines Writer Josh Freed in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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The Senate’s top Republican says throwing more tax revenue into the mix isn’t the answer as budget talks move into a new stage.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tells ABC’s “This Week” that proposals to seek more tax revenue won’t pass Congress.

McConnell is set to meet with President Barack Obama on Monday evening, and he says the focus should be on proposals that can pass Congress.

Democrats want to raise some revenue by closing loopholes and trimming tax breaks for big companies and wealthy people payday loan lenders.

The Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, is meeting with Obama on Monday morning.

Talks between congressional leaders of both parties ended last week when Republicans walked out amid an impasse over the question of taxes.

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As budget cuts and tax increases push Greece deeper into recession, politicians, economists and business leaders are calling for a new approach _ a Marshall Plan that would jolt its economy back to life and give its citizens new hope.

Debt-ridden Greece is currently negotiating a second rescue package, on top of the euro110 billion ($158 billion) it was granted a year ago. However, those loans depend on harsh austerity measures and an overhaul of Greece’s economy, which are designed to make the country fit in the long-term, but will likely worsen citizens’ financial pain in the short-term.

At the same time, billions of euros foreseen for Greece are languishing in EU coffers, as the country struggles to come up with its part of the funding.

“You can’t tighten the thumb screws indefinitely,” warned Andreas Rees, an UniCredit economist based in Munich. Yet more austerity might drown the economy, lead to lower tax intakes and ultimately backfire and drive the debt burden yet higher.

Already, the Greek economy is expected to shrink 3.7 percent this year, following a decline of 4.5 percent in 2010 and 2 percent in 2009, while unemployment has shot above 16 percent. Citizens who have held on to their jobs have lost much of their pension, had their salaries slashed and face more job cuts in the years to come as Greece slims down its public sector.

As angry demonstrations and defecting lawmakers endanger the passage of the vital new reforms in parliament, politicians are increasingly realizing that Greece’s people will need some prospect of a better future to make the belt-tightening more bearable.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament, economists and business leaders _ including the heads of German heavyweights Deutsche Bank and Allianz _ have increased their calls recently for a stimulus package for Greece, similar to the U.S.-funded Marshall Plan that helped create Germany’s “Wirtschaftswunder” _ or “economic miracle” _ after the Second World War.

“It is very important to supplement our macroeconomic efforts with something credible,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday, referring to the eurozone’s rescue loans. “If we are going to get benefits in the long-term we have to already start mobilizing our resources for more practical purposes so that Greek people become aware that there is hope and that we are not just asking them to make sacrifices.”

Just days before a summit of European Union leaders, at which Greece’s imploding financing will be top of the agenda, Barroso urged the bloc’s members to help the country get access to billions of euros in EU funds.

Of the euro20.2 billion in development funds budgeted to help Greece catch up with the richer regions in the 27-country EU between 2007 and 2013, only euro4.9 billion have actually been paid out. The rest is still sitting unused in EU coffers as Greece struggles to show it can put them to work efficiently and come up with its 50 percent of the funding for any proposed project.

Barroso said the European Commission, which manages the funds, could accelerate payments and frontload projects to give Greece quick access to about euro1 billion _ a small fraction of what is available _ to boost job creation and help make Greek businesses more competitive no fax needed payday loans.

That money would come with “tight supervision” and increased technical assistance for Greek authorities from the Commission and other EU states, Barroso stressed.

However, even international help to set up projects that qualify for EU support would not get rid of the problem Greece is facing in co-financing them at a time when government spending is being slashed.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the meetings of the 17 eurozone finance ministers, has called for the co-financing requirement to be waved for Greece, and the idea appears to be gaining momentum.

“I don’t exclude that this is something that could be discussed” at the EU summit this week, said an official at the European Commission. The official declined to be named because Barroso’s push for easier access to EU funds for Greece is still in its early stages.

Some alterntive plans already exist. Jorgo Chazimarkakis, a member of the European Parliament for the German Free Democrats, has proposed a euro30 billion stimulus package for Greece, dubbed the “Hercules Plan.” The package would combine the EU regional funds for the coming years with one fourth of the proceeds of Greece’s highly unpopular euro50 billion privatization program.

“That would also set an even higher incentive for the Greeks to go ahead with the privatization,” said Chazimarkakis, who is half Greek, adding that any stimulus plan has to come with EU officials overseeing how the funds are spent locally.

To get around the co-financing problem, Chazimarkakis proposed low-interest loans from the European Investment Bank that could be repaid once Greece is back in shape.

However, the plan faces some significant obstacles. While the EIB regularly provides loans for specific projects, sharing half the burden of Chazimarkakis’s Herkules plan could well put too much strain on the bank, which last year only had euro72 billion to finance projects in all 27 member states.

More importantly, the EU’s poorer states, which struggle as much as Greece with the co-financing requirement, would likely balk at any attempts to soften it for one country only. Greece’s per capita income may only be 89 percent of EU average, but states like Bugaria and Estonia, which have managed their budgets much more tightly, have per-head incomes that lie 57 percent and 35 percent below average respectively.

What no one denies is that Greece is in deep trouble, as it now has to convince not only the markets that it has the wherewithal to get its finances back under control, but also its own citizens that the efforts are worth it.

“Foremost you need a strategy for the time after the imminent debt crisis,” said Ulrich Kater, chief economist of Germany’s DekaBank. “And that has to be a growth strategy.”

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The economy hit a soft patch in the first three months of this year, caused by a big jump in oil prices, and the impact of those higher prices are likely to weigh on growth for the rest of the year.msg

After growing at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the final three months of last year, the economy slowed to just 1.8 percent growth in the January-March period.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to revise that figure Thursday. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are looking for an upward revision to around 2.2 percent growth, still a lackluster pace.

Going forward, many analysts believe the economy will perform only slightly better in the current April-June quarter and in the second half of this year. They see overall growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, bumping along at an annual rate just below 3 percent.

“The rest of this year is not going to be a barn burner,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at the Martin Smith School of Business at California State University. “The higher energy prices are going to continue to cascade throughout the economy.”

And in addition to higher energy prices, there are also concerns that the European debt crisis could once again threaten to derail the U.S. economy, just as it did in the spring of 2010.

Analysts are also concerned about how much of an impact the supply disruptions stemming from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan will have on U.S. manufacturing, especially factories making cars and electronic products that depend on component parts from Japan low fee payday loans.

Some analysts think that Japan’s supply chain problems could shave as much as one-half percentage point from growth in the April-June period.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York, said he believed economic growth in the current quarter will come in at an annual rate of 2.5 percent, little changed from the first quarter.

He said he looked for growth in the second half of the year to strengthen slightly to around 3 percent as the manufacturing supply disruptions ease and auto plants and other factories get back to full production.

Wyss said he saw growth for the whole year at around 2.7 percent, slightly below last year’s 2.9 percent growth.

“There are just too many headwinds for the economy to fight against at the moment,” Wyss said.

Some economists are more optimistic that the economy will be able to shake off all its problems and grow at a faster rate in the second half of the year.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, is forecasting growth will average close to 4 percent from July through December.

“For this year, the first quarter will be the low point but the final quarter will be the high point, providing good momentum going into 2012,” Zandi said. “I am looking for 2012 to be a good year.”

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Wheat is one of the world’s primary crops and, in the American landscape, an almost mythical one. But over the past decades, American farmers have turned away from their amber waves of grain online cash advance.

That’s a trend the wheat industry and seed companies

NATO bombs struck a Libyan government complex before dawn Saturday, damaging two buildings, just as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called for a cease-fire and negotiations with NATO powers in a live speech on state TV.

The targeted compound included the state television building, and a Libyan official alleged the strikes were meant to kill Gadhafi. “We believe the target was the leader,” said government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.

However, the TV building was not damaged, and Gadhafi spoke from an undisclosed location.

Reporters visiting the scene of the strikes were told the damaged buildings housed a commission for women and children and offices of parliament staff. One of at least three bombs or missiles knocked down a huge part of a two-story Italian-style building. In another, doors were blown out and ceiling tiles dropped to the ground. A policeman said three people were wounded, one seriously.

Gadhafi, meanwhile, called for a cease-fire in a speech that was both subdued and defiant and lasted for more than an hour. “The door to peace is open,” said the Libyan leader, sitting behind a desk and repeatedly flipping through handwritten notes. “You are the aggressors. We will negotiate with you,” he said. “Come, France, Italy, U.K., America, come, we will negotiate with you. Why are you attacking us?”

He said Libyans have the right to choose their own political system, but not under the threat of NATO bombings.

“Why are you killing our children? Why are you destroying our infrastructure,” he said, denying that his forces had killed Libyan civilians.

Rebel leaders have said they would only negotiate a truce after Gadhafi has stepped aside, something the Libyan leader has refused to do installment payday loans. The uprising against Gadhafi, Libya’s ruler of 42 years, erupted in mid-February, and has claimed hundreds of lives. Rebels are controlling the east of the country, while Gadhafi has retained most of the west.

Just hours before the speech, Gadhafi’s forces shelled the besieged rebel city of Misrata, killing 15 people, including a 9-year-old boy, hospital doctors said. The city of 300,000 is the main rebel stronghold in western Libya, and has been under siege for two months, with the port its only link to the outside.

On Friday, NATO foiled attempts by regime loyalists to close the only access route to Misrata, intercepting boats that were laying anti-ship mines in the waters around the port.

The Gadhafi regime signaled Friday that it is trying to block access to Misrata by sea.

Ibrahim, the Libyan official, said he was unaware of the attempted mine-laying. However, he said the government is trying to prevent weapons shipments from reaching the rebels by sea. Asked whether aid vessels would also be blocked, he said any aid shipments must be coordinated with the authorities and should preferably come overland.

Gadhafi’s forces have repeatedly shelled the port area in the past. Libyan troops are deployed on the outskirts of Misrata, after having been driven out of the downtown area by the rebels last week.

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The Bank of Korea should raise its benchmark interest rate to “at least” 4 percent this year to rein in inflation and household debt, an adviser to the nation’s central bank and finance ministry said.

“Household debt needs to be handled while it’s still manageable,” Kim Tae Joon, president of Korea Institute of Finance, South Korea’s largest private financial think tank, said in an interview in Seoul yesterday. “We also have room to allow the won to strengthen further to curb inflation.”

The central bank projected yesterday consumer prices will rise 3.9 percent this year, close to the 4 percent upper limit it is targeting through 2012. South Korea’s campaign to rein in inflation is part of efforts across the region, where countries from Thailand to India are tackling with higher costs.

“The interest rate should be raised to 4 percent at least,” from the current 3 percent, he said. “Major exporters will survive even if the currency appreciates to 900 per dollar.” The won traded at 1,087.93 at the 3 p.m. close in Seoul yesterday.

BOK Governor Kim Choong Soo said this week he will take monetary policy action “neither too slowly nor too fast.” The central bank projected growth will slow to 4.5 percent this year from 6.2 percent in 2010. Accelerating inflation spurred by economic growth and higher oil and food prices prompted the central bank to raise interest rates from a record-low 2 percent since mid-2010.

Higher Rates ‘Do Good’

“Higher interest rates will do good to the entire economy as it will help stabilize prices, which in turn boosts real income,” Kim said.

Kim, who advises the central bank governor and finance minister Yoon Jeung Hyun on policy, said that officials should tackle household debt by boosting borrowing costs and providing rescue measures for lower-income defaulters after an extended period of record-low interest rates encouraged many people to borrow beyond their means.

With the property market at risk of peaking out, if not slumping, swelling debt could threaten the nation’s sustainable growth, Kim said.

“The real-estate market won’t likely repeat the boom seen in the past decade and South Korea’s aging population could cause a drop in housing prices,” he said.

Record Debt

South Korea’s household debt including credit purchases climbed to a record 795.4 trillion won ($730 billion) at the end of 2010, the central bank said on Feb. 21. Banks’ lending to households increased to record 434.1 trillion won in March led by gains in mortgage lending, which accounts for 67 percent of total banks’ lending to households, the central bank said on April 11.

Financial Supervisory Service Governor Kwon Hyouk Se warned about a “heightened sense of concern” about the high levels of household debt on April 12. The FSS, together with government regulator Financial Services Commission, formed a taskforce to draw a general plan to contain household debt, the FSC said on March 9.

The ratio of household debt to disposable income was 1.43 times in South Korea in 2009, higher than 1.26 in the U.S., 1.12 in Japan and 1.23 in average for the members of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the commission.

“We may fall into a vicious cycle if household debt is left unchecked,” he said. “A heavy debt burden at a time when borrowing costs are rising can limit people’s spending, which in turn slows the economy and income growth, resulting in a higher debt ratio.”

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