Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Irish Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan has said he expects the Irish Republic to accept a "very substantial loan" as part of an EU-backed bail-out. Mr Honohan told RTE radio he expected the loan to amount to "tens of billions" of euros.The final decision will be up to the Irish government, which has yet to comment.Mr Honohan's comments come as a team of international officials meet in Dublin for further talks on the debt crisis.Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the EU will meet the Irish government, which has denied that it has asked for aid.
• Shares in General Motors (GM) have risen 7% on the first day of trading following the carmaker's record public share offering.Shares rose to $35.53 in the first few minutes of trade in New York, having been priced at $33 by the company.GM raised $20.1bn (£12.6bn) through its offering, making it the largest share sale in the US to date.President Obama called the sale a "major milestone" for both the company and the US car industry.
• The Greek government has unveiled an austerity budget that aims to cut its 2011 public deficit to 7.4% of the nation's annual economic output or GDP.If achieved, this would mean a 5bn-euro ($6.8bn; £4.3bn) reduction on Greece's projected 9.4% deficit for 2010.Under the budget plans, the government will cut health and defence spending, and increase the sales tax on most retail items from 11% to 14%.Greece had to accept a 110bn-euro ($150bn; £93bn) rescue deal in May.
• Brewer SABMiller has reported a 13% increase in half-year profits, as sales growth in emerging markets offset a decline in Europe and North America.The owner of beer brands as Grolsch and Peroni made a pre-tax profit of $1.7bn (£1bn) in the six months to 30 September, up from $1.5bn a year ago.Revenues at SAB, whose headquarters is in London, rose 7% to $14.2bn.Its sales volumes were down 5% in Europe, but increased by 11% in Africa and by 10% in Asia.Sales in the US and Canada were 5% lower.
• The Paris Club of creditor nations has cancelled $7.35bn (£4.6bn) of debt owed by the Democratic Republic of Congo.The deal was agreed following a meeting between representatives of Paris Club members and senior figures from the DR Congo government.In a statement, the Paris Club said the figure represented more than half of DR Congo's foreign debt.It added that the DR Congo government had pledged more work to reduce poverty.
• An industry taskforce has called on the government to act to protect the UK economy against a new threat of rising oil prices.A consortium of British business, including retailers Kingfisher and transport group, Stagecoach, say the UK must prepare for the next oil shock.It says not to do so would present energy security problems.A barrel of oil is currently around $80 a barrel, well below the last peak of $145 two-and-a-half years ago.

BBC Business News 18th November 2010