ECONOMY

Australia's retail sector will witness more shopping activities in the first quarter of the current year, according to the latest indicators summing up the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) CHEP Retail Index.

Ratings agency Fitch will likely release the credit rating of the big four Australian banks in April. Fitch placed on Monday the AA ratings of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Westpac, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on ratings watch negative which is a hint the four could be downgraded by one notch.

The Euro crisis has spawned grave fears among Australian companies that many are too cautious to gamble on expansion and generate more jobs in the process.

A survey for the Financial Services Council found that middle-age white-collar male workers in Australia with average salaries of $70,000 are frequent victims of age discrimination.

The Year of the Dragon Lunar New Year holiday not only ushered a new and magnificent year for China but also gave a new record gold buying among the Chinese.

Australia's 5.2 per cent unemployment rate for December 2011 could grow further based on survey results that majority of top listed Aussie firms have no plans to hire new workers in the next 12 months.

While the average anxiety level among 700 banks across the world was at 3.15, Australian banks recorded an even higher anxiety level of 3.28 out of a maximum of 5.

The weak housing market in Australia and the pressure on the east coast economy has resulted in home loan customers taking longer than expected to pay off their mortgages. This has added to the pressure being felt by Australian banks which have to pay more for longer-term funding.

Despite the problems with Indonesian beef importation, the meat industry of Australia is expected to enjoy a good year. For 2012, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) forecasts that beef and veal production would reach 2.197 million tonnes (carcass weight).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of West Australia has granted mining giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) conditional approval of its $40-billion Port Hedland expansion project.

Three large Japanese banks are reportedly eyeing a share of the Australian home loan market by offering lower interest rates while Aussie lenders refuse to pass to borrowers made by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

An analysis by CommSec of Australia's states and territories' performance for the fourth quarter of 2011 showed that Western Australia is the strongest state in terms of economic performance.

A survey made by Balance Recruitment in December showed that 30 per cent of workers in Australia's IT and finance sectors experienced racism. The discrimination was particularly felt by migrant workers from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China.

The New Zealand dollar is performing well while investors are strategizing and leaving the euro, with Greek and European Union officials meeting to study the decisions made between private bondholders on how to lower Greece's borrowing costs.

Deloitte Access Economics has upgraded its 2012 gross domestic product outlook for Australia on Monday. The research firm projected that the country would expand by 3.6 per cent this year, up from 2 per cent in 2011.

Australia's multi-speed economy has again been highlighted in a report showing Western Australia far ahead of the pack in output.

Australian shares ended Friday on a strong note for their third successive week higher. Easing concerns about Europe's debt and more upbeat earnings from Wall Street boosted local optimism. At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 24.8 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 4,239.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 24.4 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 4,303.

Thousands of Australians lost their jobs in December, underscoring what experts said could be the biggest loss the local economy had seen in the past 20 years.

Four of the biggest Australian banks netted together closed to $24 billion in the financial year 2010-2011 and market analysts are forecasting that the growth will continue on this year, by as much as nine percent, according to reports. Nonetheless, why is fear still hounding the country's biggest banks?

Inflation slowed in the final three months of 2011, as consumers price index dropped 0.3% in the quarter, bringing the annual pace to 1.8%, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Retailers' sentiments were confirmed by the latest sales indicator released on Friday by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), which showed that the sector struggled to achieve sales targets last year. Nevertheless, although the numbers are disappointing, they revealed that with some creativity and technological savvy, more sales can be achieved.

If 2011 was a bad year for Australian retailers, their losing streak would likely continue through 2012.

Acting Treasurer Bill Shorten criticised on Thursday the planned manpower cuts in Australia's banking industry estimated to result in the loss of 7,000 jobs. He accused the lenders of putting profits ahead of jobs.

The black market is one of the biggest and fastest growing economies in the world

The World Bank warned nations on Wednesday to brace for chaos as a new global financial crisis worse than 2008 looms ahead. To indicate how bad the situation would be, the bank cut by half its previous 2012 growth forecast for high-income countries.

Global miner BHP Billiton is all set to achieve a record full-year following its incredible iron ore output jump in the first half of the current financial year, the latest production report issued by BHP on Wednesday showed.

Australian travelers are expected to benefit from the drop in plane fares as more competition heats in the aviation industry with the offer of AirAsiaX daily trips from Sydney beginning April 2.

A day after UBS came out with a report that 7,000 jobs would be cut from Australia's banking industry in the next two years, ANZ Bank started the opening salvo by confirming on Wednesday that 130 positions would be declared redundant.

There is only a 'vague possibility' that New Zealand would escape a recession considering Europe's worsening debt crisis, according to the country's analysts.