UK economy like injured soccer star Rooney: Brown

LONDON: Like injured England soccer star Wayne Rooney, Britain’s economy must be nursed gently back to health and Conservative plans to cut spending this year will put a frail recovery at risk, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

Brown, who is expected to call on Tuesday for an election to be held on May 6, seized on the soccer analogy to explain why his Labour government is against public spending cuts this year despite a record budget deficit.

Japanese executives see slow economic recovery

Wednesday, January 06, 2010
TOKYO: Japan’s business leaders warned on Tuesday the economy was unlikely to recover until the second half of this year as the nation faces the threat of being overtaken by China as the world’s second largest economy.

“Unfortunately, the Japanese economy has yet to be on course to sustainable recovery,” Fujio Mitarai, chairman of Japan Business Federation, told a joint news conference after a New Year party with the nation’s top executives.

IMF approves release of $1.2 billion

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund approved a $1.2 billion tranche for Pakistan on Wednesday after concluding a review of the country’s economic performance.

“It is of course important that Pakistan has full support from donors because they’ve had shocks to their economy over the past year,” Carline Atkinson, IMF’s director for external affairs, told an earlier briefing.