Tokyo - Japan's key machinery orders recorded the largest fall since 1998 during the July-September period, a government report said Monday.

The key machinery orders fell 10.4 per cent during the three months compared to the previous quarter, indicating that the corporate capital spending has been weakening, the Cabinet Office said.

The core orders, which exclude those for ships and power equipment, amounted to 2.88 trillion yen (29.32 billion dollars).

Sao Paulo  - Finance ministers of the world's 20 leading economies agreed Sunday in Brazil that global stability and growth must be the cornerstones of any plan to bring volatile markets under control and fight off worldwide recession.

While emerging economies demanded a greater voice in any new regulations or systems that may emerge from the emergency finance summit planned for Saturday in Washington, the European Union had a different opinion.

Riga - Latvia's largest

Beijing - China on Sunday announced a major package of measures designed to stimulate domestic demand and buffer the economy against the effects of the global financial crisis.

The government would spend an estimated 4 trillion yuan (588 billion dollars) on infrastructure projects, reduce some taxes and loosen bank lending requirements, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Taipei - Taiwan announced an interest-rate cut Sunday to slow down the recession and to stimulate the island's economy.

The central bank of Taiwan said that starting Monday it would cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.

The rediscount rate would be cut from 3 to 2.75 per cent, the rate on accommodation with collateral from 3.375 to 3.125 per cent and the rate on accommodation without collateral from 5.25 to 5 per cent.

Central bank governor Peng Fai-nan said that the interest rate cut would ease inflation caused by fallen oil and commodity prices, the 8.3-per-cent drop in Taiwan's October exports and the International Monetary Fund's forecast that all major industrial nations except China would face an economic downturn in 2009.