TIMOTHY GEITHNER

Saudi Arabia has raised crude exports and the United States is considering releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as crude-oil prices hit nine-month highs on Friday and concerns deepened over Iran's nuclear program.

World economic powers at a Group of 20 gathering in Mexico City told Europe on Friday it would have to do more to fight its financial crisis before they agree to provide backup in the form of a bigger International Monetary Fund war chest.

New U.S. home sales fell in January but upward revisions to the prior months' data and a drop in the supply of properties on the market added to signs of a budding housing recovery.

The Obama administration is weighing the circumstances that could warrant tapping the nation's strategic oil reserve, aware that supply disruptions from Iran could harm the global economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday.

President Barack Obama has made a proposal to lower the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent in an attempt to ensure that companies will be paying less in taxes for the U.S. to remain competitive globally. The proposal could intensify the tax-reform debate with the Presidential election approaching.

Under a corporate-tax overhaul to be detailed Wednesday, U.S. companies would be forced to cede a number of loopholes and subsidies, while those with overseas operations could face a minimum tax on their foreign earnings.

The Obama administration on Wednesday will propose cutting the top tax rate for corporations to 28 percent, and pay for it by eliminating dozens of tax loopholes companies now use to lower their rates, a senior administration official said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said on Sunday the United States would encourage the International Monetary Fund to support an agreement on Greek economic reforms that had been agreed to by Greek leaders.

Now that President Barack Obama must nominate a new President of the World Bank, he’s keeping his mouth shut, especially in an election year.

President Barack Obama has the chance to change world economic development when he selects the next President of the World Bank, the outgrowth of World War II-era plans to use rich counties to spearhead economic growth.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Tuesday said the Obama administration is close to presenting a set of principles to Congress to revamp the corporate tax code but that they will not be comprehensive and overhauling the tax code could take years.

The Obama administration's corporate tax reform plan will end dozens and dozens of breaks, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday as he defended the White House's election-year call for higher taxes from wealthy taxpayers.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned on Tuesday that Europe's debt problems along with the slowdown in other major economies present potential impediments to U.S. growth.

A European finance minister, in Washington for a panel on global business and economics, sent up a flare to U.S. officials Monday afternoon, saying he hoped the U.S. would be more involved in playing a key role to solving the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Turn the clock back 13 years to 1999. Seek out the Chief Information Officer of every large business. What was the big worry? Y2K.

U.S. President Barack Obama will call for cutting the top 35 percent corporate tax rate as early as this month, according to two sources close to the administration. The president is likely to propose a rate closer to an average of those seen in peer nations, the sources said.

The United States is coming to be seen as a global threat, acting unilaterally with aggressive new market rules that critics say will hurt U.S. firms, foreign banks, and international markets in one swoop.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sounded a relatively cautious note on the state of capital markets regulation reform Thursday, detailing the work various branches of the federal executive have done, what the results had been so far, and what expectations he held for 2012.

EU leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone at a summit on Monday and are expected to agree on a balanced budget rule in national legislation, with unresolved problems in Greece casting a shadow on the discussions.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde led a global push on Saturday for the euro zone to boost its financial firewall, saying if it is big enough it will not get used.

The breakup of Switzerland's oldest bank Wegelin on Friday shows the need to settle a dispute with U.S. authorities over tax cheats hiding cash in secret Swiss accounts, the finance minister said on Saturday.