Paris / Reuters France posted its smallest public deficit last year since the global financial crisis of 2008, data showed , making this year’s government target “perfectly credible” according to the finance minister. The INSEE statistics agency said the public deficit, which includes the combined shortfalls of the central state, local government and welfare system budgets, fell to 3.5 percent ...

Bloomberg Russia hasn’t been able to line up a suitable lead manager for a planned $3 billion Eurobond because of U.S. and EU pressure on major banks not to participate, meaning the high-profile sale is likely to be delayed or even shelved, senior officials said. Only two Western banks are still interested in helping sell the bond, one of the ...

Bloomberg The U.S. economy grew in the fourth quarter at a faster pace than previously estimated, supported by stronger household spending that’s helping cushion the expansion from weakness overseas. The revised 1.4 percent increase in gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, compares with the Commerce Department’s previous estimate of 1 percent, according to figures issued ...