Russia's economy shrank sharply in November and the rouble resumed its slide on Monday as Western sanctions and a slump in oil prices combined to inflict the first contraction in GDP since the global financial crisis.
Government
BOJ chief says plenty of tools left to ease policy again: paper
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the bank has various tools left if it were to ease monetary policy again, stressing its determination to hit its inflation target in the next fiscal year.
The mainland's colonization of the Hong Kong economy
When Xi Jinping wanted to deliver a political message to Hong Kong as protesters demanding free elections were threatening to take to the streets, he summoned the tycoons who dominate the city’s economy.
Recession-hit Venezuela vows New Year reforms, foes scoff
President Nicolas Maduro vowed on Tuesday to reform Venezuela's Byzantine currency controls in early 2015 as part of a six-month plan to shake Venezuela out of recession, but foes accused him of incompetence and inaction.
Argentina's debt crisis seen rumbling on until 2015 election
Crunch time for Argentina fixing its debt default will almost certainly not be January, as many investors had hoped, but a year later once the country's next president takes office and tries to get the ailing economy moving again.
Latest News
European shares and periphery euro zone bonds tumbled on Monday after the Greek parliament rejected the government's presidential candidate, setting the stage for an election that anti-bailout party Syriza could win.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expressed his reservations against the European Central Bank launching a bond buying stimulus program and praised Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann's arguments against such moves.
China will increase official aid to Nepal by more than five times from fiscal 2015-16, officials said on Friday, to develop infrastructure in the landlocked nation where regional rival India has long wielded political influence.
A big oil price slide will hurt Iran's attempts to rescue battered living standards, but economic pain is unlikely to soften its stance in nuclear talks or end aid to allies such as Syria, matters seen by its ruling clerics as strategic priorities.
Saudi Arabia's finance minister said there was no need for the kingdom to create a sovereign wealth fund to manage its oil wealth, rebuffing suggestions by prominent officials and businessmen.
Ukraine's parliament gave preliminary approval on Thursday to a law that would simplify tax legislation and impose additional duties on imports, in an effort to raise revenue amid economic crisis.
Japan aims to give a quick boost to lagging regional economies and low-income households with subsidies, merchandise vouchers and other schemes in a $29 billion stimulus package aimed at rejuvenating a two-year reflationary effort, a draft of the plan showed.
China's economy is creating more than 13 million new jobs this year, the Xinhua news agency cited the labor ministry as saying on Thursday, outstripping the official target despite slower economic growth.
Italy's government on Wednesday began drawing up the details of a reform that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said will "revolutionize" the country's labor market when it takes effect some time next year.
