Erik Pineda

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has called on China to allow its currency to appreciate and take its true form, integrating the policy to a much wider economic reform that would free up Beijing from too much dependence on exports and encourage domestic demands for its products.

The country’s job market has bounced back big time in May and according to the latest Advantage Job Index, full-time hiring surged by 5.47 percent last month as compared to the 1.74 percent decline suffered in April following three straight months of job growth at the start of 2010.

The Queensland government has declared Friday that the Wenlock River would be regarded as a ‘wild river’ and ordered the state’s Natural Resources ministry to set up a 500 metre protection area around Coolibah Springs, with an extended one kilometre exclusion area surrounding the river realm.

Indigenous leaders have expressed worries yesterday that the federal government’s proposed super profits mining tax would turn away mining companies who are in the middle of title claims negotiations with traditional owners of their project sites.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has affirmed concerns earlier by Western Australia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) that the state government would need to release more land and increase urban density in order to encourage more affordable housing availability.

Australians appeared to be taking a fancy on premium European wines amidst its stumbling prices as official statistics showed that imported table wine declined by at least more than a dollar per litre or 13 percent in the year leading to March.

A communiqué draft released by the Group of 20 economic world powers yesterday has cautioned that the ongoing global recovery is still fragile as showcased by recent volatility in the financial markets.

Encouraged by positive indicators coming from the US market and other major worldwide markets, oil prices surged yesterday with New York’s light sweet crude delivery for July hitting $US73.28 per barrel and London’s Brent North Sea steadying at $US74.18 per barrel.

Alumina Ltd said Thursday that the current alumina pricing system is out of sync with industry fundamentals and contract pricing would eventually transition to spot pricing, which poised to deliver further benefits both to the company and the industry.

Budget carrier Tiger Airways has announced Thursday that it will start servicing routes to and from Avalon Airport in November, making the Gold Coast as the budget carrier’s inaugural destination from Melbourne’s second gateway.

Tata Motors of India has announced on Wednesday that the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, would again started rolling out from its new western India plant following the company’s forced desertion of its near-completed factory in Singur, West Bengal which was marred by violent land ownership dispute in 2008.

Fair Work Australia has announced today that minimum wage will increase by $26 a week, pushing the minimum weekly pay to $569.90 while minimum hourly wage has been set to $15.

An independent corruption watchdog report said Wednesday that an ex-officer of the NSW Housing Department should be indicted following its findings that he failed to disclose conflict of interests in work contracts that are worth millions of dollars.

The time has come for Australia’s mid-year sale as retailers offer big price slashes in hopes of getting the elusive attention of shoppers turned away by consecutive rate hikes with Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) chief executive Margy Osmond admitting that consumers would shy away from stores unless bargain finds are on the shelves.

Citigroup Inc has announced Tuesday the closure of 330 branches of US consumer finance business in its continuing campaign of company restructuring that would also lead to job separations of up to 600 employees across the 48 states.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today that the country’s gross domestic product jumped by 0.5 percent in the first three months of 2010 and further grew by 2.7 percent in the year leading to March, thanks to sustained government spending that has substantially propped up the local economy.

The US dollar reached a record four-year high against the euro on Tuesday amidst concerns that banks in Europe would face the spectre of further loan losses next year as the continent’s economic outlook seemed to get worse by the day.

Figures recently released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) showed that National Australia Bank Ltd’s (NAB) share in the housing market still lags behind its three major competitors notwithstanding the purported success of its retail banking campaign started this year.

The federal government is embarking on another advertising run and pending independent approval, it is set to actively promote the $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) as broadband retailers prepare to offer their services in Tasmania, where access will be opened up next month.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced today on its official website that Mitsubishi Motors is set to recall up to 42,525 units of Triton utes citing potential problems on the vehicles’ suspension bolts.

Moody’s said in a report released on Tuesday that the Australian airport sector’s economic outlook remains stable and added that stiff price competition among airlines and strong business activities should encourage further passenger load growth.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged on Monday members of the Group of 20 world powers to closely coordinate financial reforms in its aim to strengthen the global economy as he leaves note that governments’ international cooperation is a must in overhauling market rules following the global financial crisis.

Cougar Energy Ltd has announced Monday that it sealed a deal with China’s Inner Mongolia Qi De Investment Co Ltd to jointly-develop an underground coal gasification (UCG) project site deep in the Inner Mongolia region of China.

After more than a year of property price growth, signs are starting to show that the residential property boom is slowly grinding to a halt with most major cities around Australia posting either declining or moderate growths.

Corporate giant Wesfarmers Ltd said yesterday that the federal government’s proposed resources super profits tax could hurt its operational value in the coal sector as chief executive Richard Goyder stressed that it would be hard to estimate the new tax’s actual financial impact on the company.

New figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Monday showed that Corporate Australia has experienced a windfall in the first quarter of 2010, amassing a total of $57.2 billion while companies’ gross operating profits jumped by 3.9 percent in the March quarter.

South Korea, China and Japan have stepped up calls for further free-trade talks that could lead to the creation of a unified economic bloc as South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak hosted a three-way summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Following some pick ups early this year, luxury may be back in style as consultancy firm Bain & Company said Sunday that the luxury goods industry sales in 2010 would grow by four percent to 158 billion Euros or $A229.78 billion with much of the sales spikes to be seen within the first half of the year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has approved the proposal of Australia Post to charge basic stamp from 55 to 60 cents citing the need for the government-owned company to raise more revenues amidst declining usage of the traditional snail mail.