Tunisia should adjust its development model to counter economic slowdown and build "inclusive growth", the International Monetary Fund's country representative said, ahead of an expected line of IMF credit.

Investors worried about the risk of a new global recession are hoping that data over the coming week will show that some momentum remains in the world economy, eight years into its slow recovery from the financial crisis.

Asia's oil markets are being upended as India's and China's refiners overtake once-dominant buyers like Japan and challenge the United States as the world's biggest consumer.

THE German economy is "in good shape overall," the head of the country's central bank or Bundesbank said on Wednesday, waving away suggestions that clouds could be building over Europe's biggest economy.

SOUTH Africa's finance minister on Wednesday hiked taxes and targeted what he called wasteful and corrupt government spending in a "crisis" budget aimed at staving off a ratings downgrade to junk status.

CHINA still owns the world's largest currency reserves, but it has been burning through them at such a pace that some think Beijing might soon have to allow a sharp fall in the yuan or back-pedal on liberalisation and tighten its capital controls.

THE legal showdown between Apple Inc and US law enforcement over encryption, no matter the outcome, will likely accelerate tech company efforts to engineer safeguards against government intrusion, tech industry executives say.

Thailand's prime minister on Wed-nesday told farmers to cultivate less rice to help the country manage its intensifying water crisis, as experts called this year's drought the worst in decades.

Indian conglomerate Tata Sons, part-owner of airline Vistara, said on Wednesday that a rule restricting new carriers from flying overseas should be scrapped because it gives an unfair advantage to foreign airlines that now dominate international air travel.

Saudi inflation soared to a five-year high in January after the kingdom made unprecedented cuts to public subsidies and raised fuel prices, a research report said Wednesday.

Top negotiators on a huge transatlantic trade treaty between the EU and US opened new talks on Monday with the aim to tackle one of the deal's most controversial aspects.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc unveiled their latest smartphones at the Mobile World Congress industry show in Barcelona on Sunday, seeking to buck the slowdown in industry growth.

A $16 billion pay rise for India's public servants and costly food and farm programmes could force the country's finance minister to cut capital spending in its annual budget, officials and economists say.

So far, the most visible impact of lower oil prices on GCC banks has been a tightening in liquidity due to significantly reduced deposit inflows from government and government-related entities.

GLOBAL banking giant HSBC on Monday reported a shock pre-tax loss in the last quarter of 2015 with results for the year missing analysts' expectations, as it grapples with "seismic shifts" in the world economy.

A new stock market regulator chief could give China's beleaguered shares a short-term lift, but analysts say Liu Shiyu faces the same old problems as his ousted predecessor: shattered market confidence and the need for sweeping reforms.

Ending Europe's open-borders Schengen agreement would cost EU economies at least 470 billion euros ($520 billion) over a decade, according to a German study published Monday.

Mobile equipment maker Nokia sees the shift to the next generation of 5G wireless networks kicking off well ahead of 2020, the year when many in the industry consider mass-market upgrades will begin, its chief executive said on Sunday.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday announced a multi-million-dollar aid package for the country's struggling tourism industry which has been hit by a crisis with Russia and security concerns.

The International Monetary Fund chief urged on Monday oil-exporting Gulf countries to introduce taxes, warning that low crude prices are likely to stay for an "extended period".