Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word costs. 9 news.

SICHUAN Changhong Electric Co, China's second-biggest TV maker, has grabbed the lion's share of government-financed home appliance sales in rural areas. China promised to give farmers subsidies, about 13 percent, for buying household electrical appliances, in a bid to stimulate sluggish rural consumption and reduce the rising trade surplus, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce said over the weekend. "We are a major player in the deal and we occupy at least 50 percent shares of the TV sales (in the subsided sales in the rural areas)," Chen Ning, Changhong's vice president, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. Changhong will provide TVs, which costs less than 1,500 yuan (US$202) each, and some mobile phones for the subsidized purchase program. The pilot program will be launched in Shandong, Henan and Sichuan, the three major agricultural provinces, according to Chen. Farmers in the provinces can buy color TV sets, refrigerators and mobile phones with

SRI Lanka's central bank will probably keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the highest level in Asia in a bid to contain inflation without threatening economic growth. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nivard Cabraal will leave the repurchase rate at 10.5 percent for a 10th straight meeting, according to nine of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Two expect a half point increase. The decision is due tomorrow in Colombo. The central bank forecasts the economy will next year expand between seven percent and 7.5 percent, the fastest pace in 30 years, as the government spends money to rebuild the eastern region captured from Tamil Tiger rebels in July. Cabraal said last month that borrowing costs at a five-year high were sufficient to bring inflation below 10 percent next year from about 20 percent now. "The central bank will look to fuel growth as much as possible," said Geeth Balasuriya, an analyst at HNB Stockbrokers Pvt in Colombo. "Although

UK house prices fell the most in three years in December and the threat of more declines may cause the property market to seize up in 2008, Hometrack Ltd said. The average cost of a home in England and Wales slipped for a third month, dropping 0.3 percent to 175,200 pounds ($347,877), the London-based research group said yesterday. The number of property transactions will fall 17 percent and prices will rise just one percent next year, Hometrack forecast. Bank of England policy makers said this month that a drop in house prices seemed "more pronounced" than expected as they cut their benchmark interest rate for the first time in two years. Record debt, higher mortgage costs and the property market's worst performance since 1995 have discouraged homebuyers. "The second half of the year has seen a major reversal in confidence," Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said in a statement. "Just as the financial markets have faced a liquidity

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Maxjet Airways threw itself onto bankruptcy protection Monday as soaring costs, stiff competition and a deteriorating credit market scuttled the fledgling airline's bid to carve out a niche for itself by catering exclusively to business-class passengers in the trans-Atlantic market.

MAXjet Airways said it has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming rising fuel costs and an increase in competition for business-class travelers for its inability to raise funds.

United Airlines' West Coast stronghold is under assault by low-price competitors, putting pressure on fares at a time when United desperately needs to raise prices to offset fuel costs. This year Virgin America, JetBlue Airways Corp. and Southwest Airlines Co. have launched service at San ...

Michigan employers and workers will face heftier payouts for health insurance premiums and doctor's office visits in 2008.

Market-research firm iSuppli said it cut its 2008 revenue growth forecast for the global semiconductor industry to 7.5% from 9.3%, on rising energy costs and expectations of a U.S. economic slowdown.

HSBC expects to cut costs and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue by taking more insurance risk on to its own books to capitalise on its scale and diversity.