Business News Headlines

Google boss Eric Schmidt insisted Wednesday his company was trying to do the "right thing" as it faces criticism in Britain over the amount of tax it pays, saying it was for countries not companies to decide tax policies.

By John O'Donnell and Martin Santa BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe edged closer to lifting banking secrecy on Wednesday after Austria said it was ready to share data on foreign depositors but Vienna's support could fade should efforts to strike a similar deal with Switzerland fail. Austria's dropping of objections allowed EU …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many Federal Reserve officials earlier this month wanted to see more evidence that the economy was recovering before shifting toward a tapering of their bond purchase program, the Fed said on Wednesday. "Most observed that the outlook for the labor market had shown progress since the program was started …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank must be careful that deleveraging by euro zone banks does not affect the economy such that inflation drops too low, ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet said on Wednesday. "We have to be very attentive that the balance sheet adjustment doesn't lead to macro conditions that …

By Annika Breidthardt BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is banking on bilateral deals to fight record youth unemployment in the euro zone, agreeing to cooperate with several countries to bypass pan-European bureaucracy. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Portugal's Vitor Gaspar said Germany's state development …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank could expand its monetary policy toolkit if needed to respond to threats to price stability, and must ensure the euro zone economy does not enter a downward spiral, ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet said on Wednesday. "We have an objective: price stability," Praet, who …

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's largest political party sought to annul the results of a May 12 election on Wednesday, threatening further uncertainty in the European Union's poorest country where street protests against austerity measures toppled the last government. The centre-right GERB party, which was forced to resign …

The head of Germany's Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, said France needs to make additional efforts to reduce its public deficit, in an interview published Wednesday.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's central bank kept the price of the country's currency steady against the dollar at a special $800 million foreign exchange auction on Wednesday, called to help importers pay for wheat, meat, cooking oil and other essential imports. It did not say how much currency it actually sold. Egypt has used …

Bank of England governor Mervyn King called in May for more quantitative easing stimulus cash at his penultimate meeting, but was out-voted for the fourth month in a row, minutes showed on Wednesday.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged the risks of the Fed's low interest-rate policy Wednesday but warned that tightening policy now could stall the US recovery.

By Asma Alsharif AL-SAFF, Egypt (Reuters) - Hundreds of soot-stained factory chimneys dot the horizon in the industrial city of al-Saff, south of Cairo, but only a few spew black smoke. Two years after the revolution that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian industry is struggling as political instability has scared …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has signed an antibiotics development deal worth up to $200 million with GlaxoSmithKline to tackle the dual threats of drug resistance and bioterrorism. The collaboration, the first of its kind between Washington and a drug company, will allow funding to move around …