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South Sudan is negotiating loans to boost the value of its currency and keep its economy afloat as foreign-exchange reserves decline after the country halted oil production, Deputy Finance Minister Marial Awou Yol said.

The East African nation has secured a $100 million line of credit from Qatar National Bank and will receive a $500-million loan within a month from an unidentified provider, Yol said in an interview in Juba, the capital, on May 8. Loans are also being sought from countries including China.

NEW YORK, N.Y.

General Electric says that first-quarter profits fell 12 percent, although it topped Wall estimates when some one-time items are excluded.

The industrial and financial giant says that its transportation, health care and energy infrastructure businesses all boosted profits in the period.

GE reported earnings of $3.03 billion, or 29 cents per share, for the first quarter. That compares with $3.4 million, or 31 cents per share, for the same part of 2011. Revenue slipped by 8 percent to $35.2 billion Payday Loan for Bad Credit.

Excluding special items, GE says it earned 34 cents per share.

Analysts, who typically exclude special items in their estimates, were expecting earnings of 33 cents per share on sales of $34.8 billion.

Shares of General Electric Co. rose 32 cents to $19.46 in premarket trading.

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Yasushi Mieno, the Bank of Japan governor who stuck a pin in the nation

In a bold move to gain control of Argentina’s energy reserves, President Cristina Fernandez pushed forward a bill to renationalize the country’s largest oil company on Monday despite fierce criticism from abroad and the risk of a major rift with Spain.

In a national address, Fernandez said the legislation put to congress would give Argentina a majority stake in oil and gas company YPF by taking control of 51 percent of its shares currently held by Spain’s Repsol.

Both Repsol and Spain strongly oppose the move and have warned that it could turn Argentina into an international pariah.

YPF is vital for Argentina’s energy future, especially after its recent find of huge unconventional oil and natural gas reserves. But the company is under pressure from Fernandez’s government to raise output while its shares have plunged in recent months on fears of possible state intervention. Argentina this year expects to import more than $10 billion worth of gas and natural liquid gas to address an energy crisis even though it is an oil-producing nation, according to estimates from the hydrocarbon sector.

“We are the only country in Latin America, and I would say in practically the entire world, that doesn’t manage its own natural resources,” Fernandez said. She said her proposal “is not a model of statism” but “the recovery of sovereignty.”

Critics blame the government for an energy shortage and high gasoline prices. But Fernandez said the shortage is the result of Repsol’s “emptying” of YPF, and that Argentina had a deficit of $3 billion last year partly due to energy imports.

Argentines gathered in Buenos Aires’ main square shouting slogans, waving national flags and carrying banners supporting the government takeover. One of them read: “Today, with Cristina, we recovered YPF.” YPF was privatized in the 1990s. Repsol’s subsidiary in Argentina holds 57 percent of YPF’s shares.

Fernandez said the renationalization was a long-held desire of her late husband and predecessor, former President Nestor Kirchner.

“I hope he’s watching over me because he always wanted to recover YPF for the country,” she said.

But analysts said the planned takeover risks alienating foreign investors and prompting retaliation from Spain’s government.

“It is a bad decision,” said Emilio Apud, a former Argentine energy secretary who now works as a consultant. “It gives the Argentine government a bad image” and will discourage investment, he said. Apud also called the proposed law “a bad way to treat friendly governments like Spain.”

In Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo called the move arbitrary, and said it broke the climate of cordiality and friendship that had existed with Argentina. He said Spain would respond with “forceful measures” he did not describe.

The European Commission has warned that nationalizing YPF would be bad for the investment climate in Argentina, and has said it backs Spain in the standoff over the subsidiary.

Fernandez, however, was unmoved by the risk of a row with Spain, Argentina’s largest foreign investor.

“This president is not going to answer any threat, is not going to respond to any sharp remark.,” she said to applause from business, union and political leaders.

“I am a head of state and not a hoodlum,” said Fernandez, who has also renationalized the country’s Aerolineas Argentinas airline and nationalized the Anses state private pension funds.

There was no explanation of how, or how much, Repsol and its stockholders would be compensated. Analysts say that the government might have to use Central Bank reserves, or funds from the Anses to pay for the takeover.

“The issue that scares investors is not knowing how far the governmental participation will go, if it’s only YPF or if it is going to include other petroleum companies in Argentina,” said Joe Amador, Latin America director for Scotia Waterous, the oil and gas arm of Scotiabank, in Houston, Texas.

Even with its share prices depressed, YPF last week was valued at $13.6 billion, and buying half of that would deplete Argentina’s treasury of funds it needs to maintain the populist subsidies that have kept the country’s economy afloat.

Repsol released a statement promising to protect the interests of its shareholders. It called the move “unlawful and gravely discriminatory.”

Spanish officials had earlier protested the plan, saying Argentina risks becoming “an international pariah” if it takes control of Repsol’ subsidiary, Repsol YPF SA

Spain’s foreign minister last week summoned Argentine Ambassador Carlo Antonio Bettini to convey concern over possible nationalization of YPF, which represents 42 percent of Repsol’s total reserves, estimated at 2.1 billion barrels of crude.

Mexico’s Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari said in recent days that Spain had requested that Mexico intervene in the row with Argentina over Repsol-YPF SA. But Ferrari said Mexico’s role in the dispute is still to be determined.

“We will hold talks with Spain over the next days to exactly determine what Mexico can do,” he said ahead of the World Economic Forum on Latin America 2012 that will be held in the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta.

At the forum on Monday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized Argentina’s move, calling it “not very responsible and not very rational.”

In contrast, Venezuela’s foreign ministry issued a statement voicing support for Fernandez’s decision to renationalize YPF. Venezuela’s state oil company also supported the Argentine decision and said it is willing to help strengthen Argentina’s oil industry,

“Venezuela puts all its technical, operational, legal and political experience of Petroleos de Venezuela at the disposition of the government of Argentina and its people to strenthen the state oil sector,” the foreign ministry said.

Governors of oil-producing Argentine provinces have withdrawn about 15 oil leases, representing 18 percent of YPF’s crude production, alleging the company failed to keep its promises to develop them. YPF has countered that it has invested millions in those areas and plans to increase production, but Argentine officials have said that still falls short.

How Argentina may try to displace Repsol has been the subject of wide speculation since the government’s pressure campaign began in February.

The president’s proposal would leave Repsol with just a little more than 6 percent of YPF’s shares.

Fernandez put Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido and Economics Vice Minister Axel Kicillof in charge of handling the expropriation.

The president’s proposal declares that the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is “of national public interest” and declares that building up the nation’s supply is a priority.

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Associated Press writers Luis Andres Henao in Buenos Aires and Jorge Sainz in Madrid contributed to this report.

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Fears about Europe’s debt crisis ended a rally in Europe on Thursday, pushing most share prices down as Italy’s borrowing costs rose in a debt sale.

At an Italian bond auction, the yield, or interest rate, for three-year bonds rose sharply _ an indication that investors are nervous about the country’s ability to manage its debt. Spain’s yields have also been rising in recent days.

Both countries are struggling to reduce their deficits and debts while also trying to stimulate stagnant growth. Some analysts and investors fear they’ll need help from their European peers to keep their borrowing costs in line.

A suggestion from a member of the European Central Bank’s board Wednesday that the bank might be willing to buy more Spanish bonds helped ease fears for a bit. Coupled with that, U.S. data indicating the world’s largest economy is growing slowly but steadily helped European stocks open up on Thursday.

“The relief (that the ECB might act) could be felt more globally, but it was limited in scope indicating that we remain in a roller coaster and are not at the end of it yet,” said Sebastian Galy, an analyst with Societe Generale.

Sure enough, later in the day, the disappointing Italian bond auction put Europe’s debt crisis front and center again, and most stocks fell.

France’s CAC-40 lost 0.6 percent to 3,220, while the FTSE in Britain moved down 0.2 percent at 5,626. Only Germany’s DAX managed to eke out gains, rising 0.2 percent to 6,688.

The euro was largely even, trading 0.1 percent higher to $1.3138.

Stock markets have swung between dives and rallies in recent days as investors try to gauge how strongly the U.S. economy is recovering, how seriously Italy and Spain are struggling and how much China is slowing down quick guaranteed personal loans.

On Wednesday, a U.S. Federal Reserve survey of business conditions suggested that last month’s pullback in hiring may be only temporary. The anecdotal survey found steady growth and stable hiring throughout most of the country.

That may be giving a boost to Wall Street, which looked set to open slightly up. Dow futures rose 0.3 percent to 12,779, while S&P futures were up the same rate at 1,369.

Meanwhile, news reports that Shenzhen, a prosperous exporting region bordering Hong Kong, is planning new measures to boost its economy, helped Asian stocks earlier in the day.

Mainland Chinese shares advanced strongly late in the day, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.8 percent to close at 2,350.86. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.9 percent to 945.33.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7 percent to close at 9,524.79. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.9 percent to 20,327.32.

Seoul’s Kospi dropped 0.9 percent to 1,976.14, with investor sentiment damped by North Korea’s preparations to launch a long-range rocket in defiance of international warnings.

There remain concerns that high energy prices _ driven in part by unrest in the Middle East _ could weigh on any economic recovery. Benchmark oil continued its climb Thursday, rising 33 cents to $103.03 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose by $1.68 to finish at $102.70 on Wednesday.

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Americans took out more loans to buy cars and attend school in February but used their credit cards less frequently for the second straight month.

The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumer increased borrowing by $8.7 billion, the sixth straight monthly increase.

The jump in borrowing was driven by $11 billion increase in the category that mostly measures demand for auto and student loans. Borrowing on credit cards fell $2 billion after a $3 billion decline in January.

In February, total consumer borrowing rose to seasonally adjusted $2.52 trillion. That’s nearly at pre-recession levels and up from a post-recession low point of $2.39 billion reached in September 2010. Borrowing had tumbled for more than two years during and immediately after the recession.

Consumer borrowing rose by $18.6 billion in January, following similar gains in December and November. The gains for those three months were the largest in a decade.

A rise in borrowing could suggest that consumers are feeling more confident about the economy. However, few are comfortable enough to step up credit card use. Consumers carried $799 billion in credit card debt in February _ 15 percent less than they held in December 2007, the first month of the Great Recession

The job market slowed in March after three of the best months of hiring since the recession. Employers added just 120,000 jobs last month _ half the December-February pace pay day loans. The unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent to 8.2 percent, the lowest since January 2009.

Many economists blamed seasonal factors for much of Friday’s disappointing jobs report from the Labor Department. Even with the March pullback, the economy has added an average of 212,000 jobs per month from January through March.

The increase in hiring has helped boost consumer spending, which jumped in February by the most in seven months.

But consumers are also borrowing more at a time when their wages have not kept pace with inflation. And they are paying more for gas _ the average price per gallon nationally was $3.94 on Friday.

Households began borrowing less and saving more when the 2007-2009 recession began and unemployment surged. While the expectation is that consumers are ready to resume borrowing, they are not expected to load up on debt the way they did during the housing boom of the last decade.

The Federal Reserve’s borrowing report covers auto loans, student loans and credit cards. It excludes mortgages, home equity loans and other loans tied to real estate.

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A former MF Global executive is refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions about more than $1 billion in customer money that vanished in the days before the firm collapsed, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Edith O’Brien, a former assistant treasurer at MF Global, was subpoenaed to testify before the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee hearing about an email she sent in the firm’s final days.

The email appears to contradict testimony from Jon Corzine, the firm’s then-CEO paydayloans. It says he ordered the transfer of $200 million from a customer account on Oct. 28 to cover an overdraft in the firm’s bank account in London.

Corzine testified in December that never directed anyone to use customer funds to fix the overdraft and he wasn’t told that customer money was used.

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Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne sought to calm speculation over whether he will scrap Britain

HAZELWOOD • The company that wants to build hybrid electric delivery vans here says its plans are rolling forward, but a crucial piece of its financing appears to be stalled.

Emerald Automotive’s plans to build a new $160 million auto plant in Hazelwood – and an estimated 1,000 jobs it would create in the region – hinge largely on its application for a $120 million federal loan from a U.S. Department of Energy program designed to spur green auto manufacturing. Yet that loan program hasn’t issued a loan that size in nearly two years and appears to be mired in election year politics that have analysts skeptical that any loans will be approved any time soon.

Emerald says it remains confident. But in recent weeks, other green car-makers have thrown up their hands in frustration with the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program, a $25 billion loan fund that has two-thirds of its money still in the bank.

Last month, Chrysler withdrew a $3.5 billion loan application after negotiating for three years with the Department of Energy. Bright Automotive recently shut its doors after failing to reach a deal on a $450 million package. Last week, diesel-police-car maker Carbon Motors was turned down for a $310 million loan. All three criticized federal officials for repeatedly changing loan terms and dragging out the process.

“We are outraged by the actions of the (Energy Department),” Carbon wrote in a statement. “It is clear that this was a political decision in a highly charged, election-year environment.”

Emerald filed its application for a $120 million ATVM loan last April and said it continues to talk frequently with the energy department. It’s still in a preliminary phase of the process, and has been given no timeline on closing a loan, but says it hopes to do so this year.

“Our experience has been nothing but positive,” said Gary Marble, Emerald’s communications director. “So far, everything seems to be going forward in a very positive manner. That’s all we can go on.”

The company, which recently began testing two prototypes of its lightweight, low-emission delivery van, continues to try and raise private financing, too. For now it is funding operations through $7 million in private capital, a $5 million grant from the British government and $5 million in loans issued last year by the city of Hazelwood and the Missouri Technology Corp. It has hired a handful of employees here and has an option to purchase a site for its factory in Hazelwood, said general counsel Sharon Heaton. Emerald hopes to start making the vans – and hire about 600 workers – by 2014, and its plans have been hailed as a sign of revival in the St. Louis auto industry.

But any new plant will almost certainly require closing on the federal loan – and closing those loans is where Emerald’s peers have run into trouble. Of the ATVM fund’s $25 billion, less than $8.5 billion has been loaned out, with just $50 million approved since April 2010. And the energy department has halted payments on its $529 million loan to Fisker Automotive after delays stalled a new plant in Delaware.

The energy department says it remains committed to the ATVM program, but that it also wants to make sure taxpayers aren’t left holding the bag on risky start-ups.

“We would like to see private equity invested in these companies,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a Senate hearing on the program Tuesday, according to the Detroit News. “We are very focused on the driving the cost (of electric vehicles) down.”

Industry analysts trace the program’s slowdown to Solyndra LLC. The California solar-panel maker received $535 million from a similar energy department program in 2009, then filed bankruptcy and shut its doors last year, becoming a political firestorm. The controversy set off extra layers of scrutiny on all federal energy loans, said David Hurst, an analyst with Pike Research, an alternative-energy research firm in Colorado.

“The politics of the loan program have gotten pretty complicated,” he said. “I think it’s fairly unlikely that Emerald is going to see $120 million. If I were those guys I’d be scrambling for other funding sources.”

It appears the ATVM program’s focus is changing, said Aaron Bragman, senior auto analyst for forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. It was created in 2007 under President George W. Bush, largely to help existing automakers retool plants to make more fuel-efficient cars. Its two biggest loans – a combined $7.4 billion to Ford Motor Co. and Nissan North America – paid to do just that. But then came loans to smaller – and far riskier – start-ups, which triggered more applications from more start-ups.

“After they decided to do Tesla and Fisker, people said ‘Hey, now it’s a (venture capital) start-up fund,” Bragman said. “But really it’s not.”

Emerald sees it differently. Their T-100, a lightweight vehicle intended for export to Europe, is exactly what the ATVM program is meant to fund, Marble said.

“Emerald Automotive is right in the wheelhouse of what that program was set up for,” he said. “We definitely meet what they say they’re looking for.”

Meanwhile, Emerald is “making real progress” in talks with private investors, said general counsel Sharon Heaton, though nothing is finalized yet. The company is nearing a spring deadline – set in its loan agreements with Hazelwood and the Missouri Technology Corp. – to raise $30 million in private funds. The contract allows that date to be moved if necessary.

Hazelwood, which added a special sales tax to fund its $3 million loan to Emerald, is in regular talks with the automaker and hears good reports, said Economic Development Director David Cox. But at this point, there is not much officials there can do but watch, and wait.

“We’ll all keep our fingers crossed,” he said.

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