Breaking: The European Central Bank has voted to leave interest rates across the eurozone unchanged at their record low of 0.25%.

It has also resisted imposing negative interest rate on eurozone banks, leaving the deposit rate unchanged at 0.0%. And the marginal lending rate (which banks pay to borrow from the ECB) is also unchanged.

Here's the official (brief) statement:

At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.25%, 0.75% and 0.00% respectively.

The President of the ECB will comment on the considerations underlying these decisions at a press conference starting at 2.30 p.m. CET today.

The prospecy of an American takeover of Vodafone was put on hold on Monday after AT&T was forced to deny it is poised to make an offer.

The US telecoms giant said it had no plans to make an imminent move for Vodafone, sending shares in the British company falling by as much as 7pc.

The Takeover Panel, the UK’s deal watchdog, had requested that AT&T either confirm or deny that a bid was in the works, following reports that a recent meeting between AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson and Neelie Kroes, Europe’s top telecoms regulator, was aimed at smoothing over a deal.

It has subsequently emerged that Mr Stephenson and Ms Kroes did not discuss Vodafone at the meeting.

“AT&T notes the recent speculation regarding a potential transaction involving Vodafone,” a statement from the company read. EE, the UK’s biggest mobile network, is another possible target for AT&T. Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and France’s Orange, EE’s owners, recently called off a planned flotation, saying that maintaining its current ownership structure is “the best option for value creation”.

Separately, it emerged yesterday that Vodafone is considering a takeover of Ono, the Spanish cable operator, as it uses the portion of its cash from the Verizon Wireless sale not given to shareholders to invest in diversifying its European business.

The company has sought to sell a bundle of internet and television services on top of its core mobile phone business, leading to speculation it could seek a deal with BSkyB in the UK.

Vodafone did not comment on a potential deal for Ono.

In an interview, French Economics Minister Pierre Moscovici discusses President Hollande's decision to implement structural reforms, his friendship with Wolfgang Schäuble and criticism of France he believes is unjust.

French Economics and Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici greets the journalists in a small lounge inside the Economics Ministry in Paris' Bercy district, with a view of the Seine River and a table set for lunch. In true French fashion, Moscovici likes to conduct his interviews over a meal. The menu on this day consists of lamb skewers and mousse au chocolat. The economics minister has just returned from Elysée Palace, where he discussed austerity measures with President François Hollande. Right after the interview, he'll be heading to the World Economic Summit in Davos.

Moscovici, 56, had previously been considered a reform-minded politician who was unable to push his ideas through. However, following Hollande's well-received reform speech earlier this month, in which he announced planned cuts in government expenditures and non-wage labor costs, it appears Moscovici has emerged the victor.

"Figures published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in October showed foreign currency loans booked in China, as well as cross-border borrowing by Chinese companies, had reached $880bn (£535bn) as of March 2013, from $270bn in 2009. Analysts say this figure is now likely to exceed $1 trillion...."

I wouldn't mind someone explaining the actual detailed settlements of these "big things" For example how Bonds could be given over to cover borrowing etc.
We've all been told that China has Xtrillion of US Gov bonds - and we know that China has been stymied (quite rightly , imho) from buying any major USA infrastructure/firms etc with those bonds - apparently they can either sit on the Bonds or go hang.
Are there rules about bailing out a commerical Chinese Bank with U$USD bonds that are held by the Chinese Gov ( albeit, that the corrupt Chinese wouldn't follow any rules)?

So, if China is now buying in heaps of "foreign currency" loans - can it pay off (or secure) these loans with $USD Bonds ? Would that mean that, by an alternative route, the Chinese fiscal mess, will be paid off in $USD - and therefore ( if the pay off is massive) dilute the worth/price of US Gov bonds - putting the USGov on the slide again? Would it be that the corrupt, idiotic Chinese criminal mess will be paid by all of us in the West getting a severe flu ?

China got gigantic surpluses. Don't worry about China. Worry about the UK and the established countries:

USA: Currency reserves=132bn----nat. debt= 17.4 Trillion----trade deficit: – 34,3 bn

U.K. : Currency reserves=144bn----nat. debt= US$ 2.03 Trillion----trade deficit: US $ -5.32 bn

Russia: Currency reserves=510bn----nat. debt=US$ 207 bn----trade surplus: US$ +16.5 bn (!)

China: Currency reserves=3.82Trillions----national debt= ~US$ 2.427 Tril----trade surplus: +256 Mill (only!)

...overall, 15 out of the 27 EU economies saw a decline in the flow of foreign investment

France has seen the steepest decline of inward investment of any country in the European Union, plummeting 77pc to the lowest level in 27 years, while the UK has retained its place at the top of the European league table.

Foreign investment in France fell to $5.7bn (£3.5bn) in 2013, according to a report by the United Nations, in a further blow to Francois Hollande, the French President, who is already battling high unemployment and the prospect of the eurozone's second largest economy slipping back in to a recession.

The UK was the leading economy out of the 27 member states of the EU, with foreign investors spending $53bn in Britain last year. That kept the UK in the top ten globally for foreign investment, although it slipped from sixth position in 2012 last year.

Overall, the European Union saw the greatest level of inflows of any of the developed regions.

The inflows were largely accounted for by inflows in to four relatively small EU economies - Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development said those countries saw large inflows as they "offer a tax-friendly environment for investment, particularly for special purpose entities"....Funny, I am not eager that a stranger invests in my house. I do it myself. If someone else would, I would suspect him to be after something.

Marisel hydropower plant - (Romania)

Ceausescu hidden in the womb Apuseni underground hydro, arranged in a cavity hollowed in the rock. Nicolae Ceausescu One of the foundations is a hydroelectric secret, built in the Apuseni Mountains. Mărişel Hydropower is the second largest in the interior rivers in Romania and has a power capable of supporting the power supply to factories in Transylvania, which had been involved in a hypothetical war, who feared Communist dictator. The power plant is housed in an artificial cave, hollow rock in the heart of the mountains. Because it can withstand even the toughest aerial bombardment, central Mărişel was declared strategic goal, and public access is prohibited. For the first time in decades, Free Romanian journalists received permission to photograph inside hydropower authorities and talk to its employees.

10 Energy as steel mills

Hydropower Mărişel is hidden under a mountain greenery. On the road leading to the skiing resort of Cluj there are several power transformers and well locked gate, resembling in appearance to the entrance to a mine. The gate is large enough to allow entry of vans, but discreet enough not to attract the attention of tourists who go to the resort Mărişel.

Underground power plant is able to generate 220 megawatts of power using three groups of 73.5 megawatts. The amount of electricity produced by hydroelectric dug into the mountain would be sufficient to supply at the same time, 10 steel plants, such as the Plain Turda. Or, in other words, the electricity could be illuminated Mărişel smoothly all cities in Northern Transylvania. Central Mărişel uses the accumulated water in the lake at Belis. Through an underground channel, carved into the rock, the water reaches the turbine. Here, the cavity that houses the power plant is as high as a 10 story building. Access to the power plant is very difficult. Visitors who pass the gate guarded by the mountain, you have to walk a mile long tunnel. Usually, this tunnel is crossed with leadership hydroelectric cars allowed. Those who are not employees of hydropower must receive special approval to be received into the plant at Marisel.

Procedures are complicated precisely because underground hydropower has the status of a strategic objective. Among those who visited the power plant include the head of the Environmental Guard in Cluj County, Viorel Pleşa. "I was twice in hydropower. It is absolutely impressive. Beyond the enormous cost, power is doubly important to Transylvania. The first time it produces a huge amount of clean energy, and secondly because it was designed exclusively plant engineers and Romanian workers and only materials and equipment produced in Romania, "he said. In turn, Mayor Marisel Traian Mariş says that the power plant could become one of the most important tourist attractions, provided it is open to the public. Yet he does not think this will happen very soon. "On the one hand, it is understandable that people would like to be able to visit such an engineering marvel. Moreover, the risks are huge. imagine what would happen if a madman with a bomb come, "said Mayor Traian Mariş.

 

A journey of discovery

So power plant employees, they get many visitors, shall, involuntarily, an attitude similar to that of the initiates of ancient cults. Chief John Varvari are among the plant employees Marisel the "old guard". "Mărişel Central is a basic unit of the national energy system. Why do I say this? For, since the rivers are More hydroelectric largest Lotru them, three hundred and something megawatts, and the second Mărişel, with 220 megawatts. still have one of 220 megawatts, Arges, but not working at maximum capacity, "says John Varvari. Hydropower Mărişel was set 34 years ago by Romanian engineers at the request of former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. He wanted to have an underground power plant capable of supplying electricity to the steel plants in Transylvania. In the event of war, such as steel mills quickly followed to convert weapons factories. Precisely secrecy in planning plant in Marisel were involved only Romanian engineers. All materials and equipment used in hydropower planning were also produced in Romania. The desire to boost jobs, Nicolae Ceausescu personally inspected several times, the site of Apuseni Mountains. John Varvari remembers that before the visits "Comrade", hydroelectric and its surroundings were full of Securitate.

  

The plant sells energy communist capitalist

20 years after the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist pearl energy system, central Mărişel produce electricity supplied to the European common market. "We are obliged to press the button, take care to be 70 megawatts and maintain plant" describes John Varvari monotonous ritual of a working day. Plant uses electricity from energy production Marisel gathered water reservoirs of at Belis.

Iraq is poised to flood the oil market by tripling its capacity to pump crude by 2020 and is collaborating with Iran on strategy in a move that will challenge Saudi Arabia's grip on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"We feel the world needs to be assured of fuel for economic growth," Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy in Iraq told oil industry delegates attending a Chatham House Middle East energy conference.

Al Shahristani said on Tuesday that Iraq plans to boost its capacity to produce oil to 9m barrels a day (bpd) by the end of the decade as Baghdad rushes to bolster its economy, which is still shattered by war and internal conflict. Iraq was producing 3m bpd in December, according to the International Energy Agency.

Iraq's intention to challenge Saudi Arabia's status as the "swing producer" in the OPEC cartel could see a dramatic fall in oil prices if Baghdad decides to break the group's quotas and sell more of its crude on the open market.

"It's very difficult to predict actual world (oil) demand by 2020 because the world economy is unpredictable," said Mr al-Shahristani.... well...I don't believe it, so the only way they can think to fix things is to bring the price of oil down and hope a recovery happens, well I never, so we have another bust coming after this fake boom. I don't think Iraq is doing this voluntary it is destroying their children's future, clearly Iraq's masters are behind this, another crime being done to Iraq, they truly have the devil ruling them.