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Fed acknowledges recession risk, global gloom deepens
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Fed acknowledges recession risk, global gloom deepens
AFP - 57 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The Federal Reserve Wednesday acknowledged the possibility of a US recession into 2009, adding to gloom over the slowing global economy as American and European automakers begged for government help.
The Fed sharply cut its outlook for the world's biggest economy for 2009, highlighting the potential for recession over the next year.
In Europe, a spokeswoman for the German economy ministry said the European Commission is planning a 130-billion-euro (163-billion-dollar) economic stimulus program.
"That represents one percent of gross domestic product for each member state," she told AFP. "For Germany, that means 25 billion euros."
In Washington, the Fed's latest forecast said the economy could grow as much as 1.1 percent or contract by 0.2 percent next year.
That compared with Fed forecasts published in July for US gross domestic product (GDP) growth in a range of 2.0 to 2.8 percent for 2009.
Since then, the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers in mid-September triggered a resurgence in a global financial crisis that has battered the advanced economies and slowed global growth.
For all of 2008, the Fed estimated zero to 0.3 percent growth in US gross domestic product (GDP), down from its previous estimate of a 1.0 to 1.6 percent expansion.
The central bank forecasts were published along with the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on October 28-29, at which members agreed unanimously to slash the base lending rate a half-point to 1.0 percent.
Automakers worldwide warned of more perils from the global economic meltdown as the latest US data on Wednesday added to growing fears of huge job losses and a long, painful recession ahead.
Official US data showed that consumer prices plunged a record 1.0 percent in October -- the steepest one-month decline in 61 years, led by oil prices plummeting from their July record highs.
A separate US government report said construction starts on new homes and housing building permits fell to record lows in October as the prolonged slump in the real-estate sector deepened.
Automakers in the US, Britain, Germany and Italy appealed for government help in the crisis.
The heads of the US "Big Three" car makers -- General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler -- returned to Congress for the second straight day to beg for an emergency bailout.
They warned lawmakers on Tuesday that the US economy faced a "catastrophic collapse" if the government did not lend them 25 billion dollars to keep them afloat.
In Britain, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the Retail Motor Industry Federation called on the government to shield the British automotive sector from a credit squeeze through loans and possible guarantees.
German carmaker Opel, a GM division, is to cut production next year and is mulling a 30-hour work week, its directors told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
Opel has already asked the German government to guarantee loans it might need if the US parent group goes bankrupt.
The German solar power group SolarWorld offered to buy Opel for 1.0 billion euros (1.26 billion dollars).
In Milan, the head of Italian auto giant Fiat, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, insisted that Europe now had to "find a means to stimulate the automobile industry," which "represents a significant part of the continent's gross domestic product."
Officials said the European Union was preparing targeted action, including incentives to make environmentally friendly cars, rather than an overall bailout to help the auto sector, a key employer in Europe.
"There won't be subsidies, and besides the industry is not asking for subsidies," said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen.
The Canadian government said it would "provide further support" for the country's ailing auto sector and aerospace industry.
Pressure is mounting on Canada's government to help bail out the struggling US Big Three automakers that have operations in Ontario province, as Washington considers a major rescue.
A sharp fall in demand forced the world's biggest chemical company, BASF, to unveil global output cuts and suspended operations at 80 plants, moves that will affect 20,000 workers.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.32 percent and the Nasdaq was off 4.27 percent in late trade.
European stock markets closed with losses of more than 4.0 percent Wednesday. London's FTSE 100 fell 4.82 percent to 4,005,68 points, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 4.03 percent to 3,087.89 points and in Frankfurt the DAX tumbled 4.92 percent to 4,354.09 points.
Tokyo on Wednesday closed down 0.66 percent, Hong Kong fell 0.77 percent and Sydney dropped 0.7 percent. Shares in Shanghai, however, surged 6.05 percent at the close as bargain-hunters bought up energy stocks.
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L-R: United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally wait to testify before the House Finincial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Automakers worldwide warned of more perils from the global economic meltdown.
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