Prague  - Since headlines began asking whether Eastern Europe is like an "Argentina on the Danube", those of the region's countries that are in better financial shape have contested that grim image.

A flurry of reports describing Eastern Europe as "the eye of the next financial storm" have included the Czech Republic and Poland despite their economies being seen as capable of weathering the downturn with less damage than some of their neighbours.

As the bad news spreads, traders in far-away financial hubs have been shedding the Czech koruna and Polish zloty alongside currencies in region's troubled spots such as Hungary and Latvia.

Washington - The US economy shrank by 6.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2008, far worse than initially estimated and the worst fourth-quarter showing by the country since the recession of 1982, the US Commerce Department said Friday.

The annualized figure was revised from an earlier estimate of an only 3.8-per-cent drop and underscored the severity of the recession in the US economy. Most economists are expecting a similar contraction in the first three months of 2009.

Washington  - The US economy shrank by 6.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2008, far worse than initially estimated and the worst fourth-quarter showing by the country since the recession of 1982, Washington reported Friday.

In its latest estimate of the gross domestic product (GDP) performance, the US Commerce Department annualized figure was much worse than the initial estimate of a 3.8 per cent drop in the last quarter.

Washington - US President Barack Obama on Thursday outlined a 2010 budget and projections for the next 10 years, offering a look at how he hopes to revive the embattled US economy while completing a series of ambitious priorities he set out on the campaign trail.

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that she expects an honest assessment of the financial situation within Eastern Europe at a European Union (EU) summit meeting this weekend.

Merkel said that, as far as the EU member states are concerned, "we should be given an honest status of the situation," adding that this had not necessarily been the case at the EU's December summit.

Islamabad  - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on thursday offered cash-strapped Pakistan to double its annual assistance to three billion dollars during the incoming fiscal year staring on July 1, a senior official of the bank said.

"We can double Pakistan's assistance up to three billion per annum provided Islamabad makes a request and the funds available to ADB are increased," the bank's vice president Zhao Xiaoyu told reporters in Islamabad.