PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Nov 27

Nov 27 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Consumers should not expect lower food prices anytime soon because the prices on most meat and packaged items are holding firm or even increasing.

* The federal government made two big moves to help consumers, but some people are ineligible while others will have to wait months before the benefits trickle down.

* Bell Canada, the largest phone company in Canada, said the economic slump might prevent its takeover from closing on time, signaling the buyout might collapse.

* China announced its largest interest rate cut in more than a decade, while the European Union outlined a $258 billion plan to spur growth on the Continent.

* Consumer spending, the workhorse of American economic growth, dropped a full percentage point in October, the biggest monthly decline since the terrorist attacks in September 2001, the Commerce Department reported. Jobless claims also declined.

* Regulators in Europe led a second round of raids on drug companies, just days before their planned release of findings from an earlier antitrust investigation.

* Paul Volcker, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has agreed to lead a new White House economic advisory committee, President-elect Barack Obama said.

* Foreign banks doing business in the U.S. are ramping up pressure on the Treasury Department to grant them the same tax breaks given to their American counterparts under the $700 billion bailout.

* The Reserve Primary Fund has adjusted its timeline of events for breaking the buck on Sept. 16, adding a fresh knot to the legal macrame already entangling the fund.