Sponsored by International Monetary Fund

Political parties in Ireland will hold crisis talks following the abrupt departure of the Green Party from the coalition led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen.

Private-sector lender Yes Bank posted a 51.6 percent rise in quarterly net profit in Oct-Dec, as both advances and deposits rose.

Burundi's year-on-year inflation rate rose for the third straight month to 6.3 percent in December from 5.5 percent a month earlier, partly due to higher transport costs, official data showed on Wednesday.

Greece is not in talks to stretch out repayment of its entire outstanding debt, a finance ministry official, who requested anonymity, said on Tuesday.

Even as the rest of Europe remains on an edge about its economic recovery, Germany continues to post strong growth, as shown by the German investor confidence indicator on Tuesday.

Mid-cap banks are likely to report another strong quarter of healthy profits in Oct-Dec on robust credit growth, but stressed liquidity in a rising interest rate environment could obstruct growth going forward.

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged an end to a zero sum Cold War relationship with the United States and proposed new cooperation, but resisted U.S. arguments about why China should let its currency strengthen.

Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington this week may be the calm after the storm when it comes to economic relations between the world's two biggest economies.

A mission from the International Monetary Fund will visit Spain on Monday to carry out a routine study of the country's financial system, as part of an annual global report, officials said on Sunday.

During the dark days of 2008 as its banking system and economy was collapsing, the cash-strapped government of Iceland asked the United States for a $1-billion loan, according to a WikiLeaks document.

France will provide Cameroon with 213 billion CFA francs worth of grants over the next five years to pay for agricultural and infrastructure projects, state radio announced on Friday.

Ethiopia has penalised retailers and suppliers in the capital who raised the prices of consumer goods such as bread by amounts higher than caps set in January, authorities said on Thursday.

The United States wants a real, demonstrative commitment from China that it is serious about shifting away from export-led economic growth, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday ahead of next week's state visit by China's Hu Jintao.

Deadly rioting in the North African nations of Tunisia and Algeria underscore a clash between peoples’ anger over harsh economic realities and totalitarian governments’ clampdown on any dissent.

If European Banks pay a one-time tax of 50 billion euros, it could help restore some stability to the EU, Reuters said, citing documents from the European Commission obtained by them.

The Greek budget deficit narrowed more than targeted last year, mainly led by a drop in government spending.

Portugal has no plans to seek a bailout from the EU and IMF, and the government is doing everything possible to avoid doing so, Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said.

Portugal needs to take decisive political steps to calm international markets, Finnish Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said on Tuesday.

Portugal needs to take decisive political steps to calm international markets, Finnish Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said on Tuesday.

Pressure is growing on Portugal from Germany, France and other euro zone countries to seek financial help from the EU and IMF to stop the bloc's debt crisis from spreading, a senior euro zone source said on Sunday.

Portugal denied on Sunday that it is under pressure by France and Germany to seek a bailout from Brussels and the IMF to ease concerns over its debts, like Greece and Ireland before it.

A top IMF official warned on Saturday that the United States must start down a budget deficit-cutting path relatively soon or face crushing debt service costs as interest rates rise.

Persisting political crisis in Pakistan, which got worse with the withdrawal of support to the government by two key allies and the assassination of a popular provincial governor, point to a serious governance failure and can further halt the strained IMF standby program aimed at restoring fiscal health, an analyst has said.

John Lipsky, the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has said 2011 will be a pivotal year for the global economic recovery and for international policy cooperation, adding that it's also a crucial year for the Fund as it will try to address these principal challenges.

Perhaps the surprising good health of Pakistan’s equity market shows how disconnected financial trading markets can be from the state of the society they reside in.

The economy of Singapore surged by an astounding 14.7 percent in 2010, primarily driven by a surge in manufacturing activity, versus a 1.3 decline in the prior year, making it Asia’s fastest-growing economy.

Greece is in talks with commercial banks on extending the repayment of its outstanding debt, in line with a similar plan to stretch out paying back its EU/IMF bailout, an Athens weekly reported on Friday.

The dollar's share of known global currency reserves slipped in the third quarter, while total central bank holdings hit a record $9 trillion, International Monetary Fund data showed on Thursday.

South Korea, among other countries, would be a better candidate than South Africa to join the BRIC group of prominent emerging market nations, said Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and the man who first coined the “BRIC” term.