IMF

Russia, the world's ninth largest economy, cut its 2012 GDP forecast to 3.4 percent from 3.7 percent as investment growth is expected to decline, its economy minister said Friday.

The head of China's national pension fund called for a bigger role for the Chinese currency in the international monetary system, saying the yuan could someday account for 10 percent of global reserves.

She didn't mention the U.S. central bank's two previous rounds of bond-buying known as quantitative easing, but Lagarde stressed that past action by the Fed and European regulators helped keep growth strong and steady.

By deciding to field a candidate in Egypt's upcoming presidential election, the long-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood has turned a corner. So has Khairat al-Shater, the chosen Islamist contender for the top job in Egypt post-Hosni Mubarak.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed at a meeting in Copenhagen on Friday to increase the bailout lending limit to 700 billion euros ($930 billion), a move aimed at reassuring financial markets wary of a Eurozone default and dampening the crippling debt crisis of the past few years.

The BRICS nations met for a summit in New Delhi, where, among other subjects, they discussed the possible formation of a joint development bank, closer integration of their respective stock exchanges, energy security and ongoing tensions in the Middle East. But they still wield no power as a bloc, says an expert who has studied the BRICS phenomenon

Finance ministers from the 17-member currency area agreed to combine, for one year, a pair of rescue funds meant to help avert a default by Spain, Italy or Portugal, or a repeat by Greece, which warned that a third bailout might be necessary.

The heads of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, drafted a joint statement attacking American and European aggressive policy actions and dominance of global institutions.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting in Delhi to discuss a range of issues, including increased financial integration of the member countries.

Despite their political differences, varied economic clout and undefined association, the meeting between the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is set to highlight the group's growing independence

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being investigated for aggravated pimping in connection with a French prostitution ring.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's reputation was further damaged on Monday, this time by aggravated pimping charges handed out by a French court.

One of his attorneys, Richard Malka, said his client denies all the charges.

She added important lessons had been learned from the Greek experience, allaying fears further bailouts would be needed for other struggling Eurozone countries.

Despite the ongoing controversy over Egyptian crackdowns on foreign and American NGOs, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. will resume annual military aid payments to Egypt of $1.3 billion.

The strike, called by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), also resulted in some schools being closed and hospitals working with reduced staff

President Barack Obama must nominate a new President of the World Bank soon, ahead of its June annual meeting in Washington. Two Third World candidates have been mentioned but another American is the likely winner.

Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo are set to be nominated to lead the World Bank, sources with knowledge of emerging market efforts to find candidates said on Tuesday.

The French president’s 2010 campaign seems reminiscent of the British election in 1979, when Conservative Margaret Thatcher fought to become the UK’s first Prime Minister.

An IMF team has arrived in Cairo Monday for talks, on a $3.2 billion loan facility for Egypt. This can be a crucial meeting especially as collapse in investor confidence since last year’s revolution has left Egypt on the brink of a balance of payments crisis according to Capital Economics.

Home prices in nearly half of China's major cities fell in February from the year-ago period, as Beijing showed its determination to tame the property market.