Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Queen Running Out Of Money By 2012
The total cost of keeping the monarchy increased by £1.5 million to £41.5 million during the last financial year, up three pence per persona year, to 69 pence.
The newly published accounts reveal that the Queen raided the reserve fund by £6 million, the largest ever, to supplement the Civil List.
The Queen's Civil List, which pays for the running of the Royal household including staff salaries, was £13.9 million but the government provides only £7.9 million which has been frozen since 1991.
The reserve, which was £35 million at its peak, has now dwindled to £14 million and Buckingham Palace estimates it will have disappeared by the end of 2011 when a new Civil List settlement is due to come into effect.Full Story
Chinese banks : Global Economy Threat
China's banks are veering out of control. The half-reformed economy of the People's Republic cannot absorb the $1,000bn (£600bn) blitz of new lending issued since December.
Money is leaking instead into Shanghai's stock casino, or being used to keep bankrupt builders on life support. It is doing very little to help lift the world economy out of slump.
Fitch Ratings has been warning for some time that China's lenders are wading into dangerous waters, but its latest report is even grimmer than bears had suspected.
"With much of the world immersed in crisis, China appears to be one of the few countries where the financial system continues to function largely without a glitch, but Fitch is growing increasingly wary," it said.
"Future losses on stimulus could turn out to be larger than expected, and it is unclear what share the central and/or local governments ultimately will be willing or able to bear." Full Story
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