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Greece's creditors failed on Saturday to persuade the leader of the main conservative party to drop his refusal to sign a pledge that he will back austerity measures under a bailout deal aimed at saving the country from financial ruin.

The International Monetary Fund is inserting itself more forcefully into Europe's efforts to resolve its debt crisis, hoping to stem a contagion that is spreading worldwide and threatening global growth.

Gold inched up on Friday was still on track for its biggest weekly loss since September as euro zone debt contagion worries spooked investors.

Stocks were little changed on Friday, but easing European sovereign debt yields kept the S&P 500 above a key technical level.

Papademos’ government also promised that it will not have to enact any further austerity cuts.

Spain and France struggled with government bond auctions on Thursday, throwing into sharp relief the threat of larger euro zone economies succumbing to the debt crisis that began in Greece and is already lapping at Italy's shores.

The head of the International Monetary Fund's Europe department resigned suddenly on Wednesday, a year after taking on the crucial role, leaving the fund at a critical time as it grapples with the European financial crisis.

Ghana will seek to boost revenues from its mining industry next year by hiking taxes, according to a text of the 2012 budget delivered to parliament on Wednesday.

The Paris Club of creditor nations said members agreed on Tuesday to reduce the Ivory Coast's foreign debt burden and said reforms underway should lead to further relief.

A budget crunch in Swaziland, Africa's last absolute monarchy, has reached a critical stage with the government struggling to maintain spending on HIV/AIDS, education and the elderly, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

The economically insecure country of Portugal is seeking investment from its former colony, Angola.

Ghana will increase its corporate tax rate for mining companies to 35 percent from 25 percent, and will collect a 10 percent windfall profit tax from miners, according to a text of the 2012 budget delivered to parliament on Wednesday.

Volatility in government bond markets is likely to continue unless European countries take steps to shield their financial systems, Canada's finance minister said as he expressed frustration with Europe's two-year old debt crisis.

What do the International Monetary Fund, Louis Vuitton and Unilever have in common?

The Kenyan shilling reversed early gains to close weaker against the dollar for the second straight session on Tuesday, hurt by telecom sector demand for dollars, while stocks extended losses to a fifth day.

A sharp slowdown in world growth would increase the risk of recession in poorer countries, whose budgets have barely recovered from the last economic slump just two years ago, the IMF said on Monday.

Local governments in China had lent an astounding 10.7 trillion Yuan by of year-end 2010 – or about 27 percent of GDP for that year.

China's biggest commercial banks face systemic risks if a combination of credit, property, currency and yield curve shocks that could be withstood in isolation were to occur together, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.

Lucas Papademos has insisted that remaining in the Eurozone is our only choice.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Europe could be living through its toughest hour since World War Two as new leaders in Italy and Greece rushed to form governments and limit the damage from the euro zone debt crisis.

Asia-Pacific leaders sought a united front on Sunday to prop up economic growth despite divisions over trade and currency policies as they face a common threat from Europe's debt crisis.

President Barack Obama and China's Hu Jintao will pitch differing trade agendas on Saturday as an antidote to weak global growth, as they try to sidestep the European debt crisis looming over an Asia-Pacific summit.

The euro zone's debt crisis could substantially damage the U.S. economy if not contained, the Federal Reserve's No. 2 official warned on Friday as she urged bold action by Europe.

The International Monetary Fund on Friday warned that advanced economies could fall back into recession unless policy-makers move with greater urgency to agree on policies to boost growth.

Diplomatic deadlock is curbing China's will to provide cash to help end the euro zone crisis after Europe spurned the simplest of Beijing's three key demands, two independent sources have told Reuters.

Bollore plans to invest 18 billion CFA francs in Abidjan port by 2013 to make it the region's key sea hub, the French logistics and transport group's Africa chief said.

Nigeria plans to change the base year for its gross domestic product (GDP) to 2008 from 1990, a move that could lead to a huge jump in the estimated size of Africa's second biggest economy, the national statistics chief said on Thursday.

It is likely to take the combined forces of the European Central Bank, the IMF and the euro zone bailout fund to break Italy's financial fall, and it's far from clear that Europe's leaders are ready to take on that rescue mission.

The head of the International Monetary Fund urged Italy Thursday to act quickly fill its damaging political vacuum, and China said it was willing to help maintain global financial stability that was being threatened by the euro zone crisis.