IMF

Greece bowed to international pressure last week by formally requesting a bailout from the eurozone member countries and the International Monetary Fund.

The G20 group of rich and poor countries is likely to make rapid progress on a radical IMF plan to tax the world's financial institutions in the hope of reaching a deal by the end of the year, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, said today.

Greece could be forced to reluctantly accept the agreed EU and IMF bailout package after its borrowing costs surged to fresh highs yesterday.

Fabrice Tourre - the bond trader at the heart of Goldman Sachs' fraud case - was on Tuesday barred from working in the City of London in the first 'victory' for financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has increased its forecast of economic growth in Britain, predicting GDP would be about £20bn higher by 2020 if the Conservatives gain power.

Eurozone members have pledged up to €30bn in loans to Greece over the next year to help dodge a debt crisis which is seen as most serious challenge in the euro's existence.

Greece's financial problems continue to deteriorate as its four biggest banks have been forced to ask for State aid and government bond yields rise to fresh highs.

A £20bn bailout plan to help debt-laden Greece has been agreed by all 16 eurozone countries.

Ghana is as long as 75/1 with some bookmakers to win this summer's World Cup, but the IMF predicts the west African nation will walk away with a world title of a different kind in 2010.

The currency of a country is the equivalent of its share price, the perceived value of its overall tangible and intangible assets, and while the share prices of the highly indebted developed markets are faltering, those of emerging markets are rising....