Sao Paulo - Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA agreed to acquire Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA, creating Brazil's biggest bank.

According to a statement from the banks made public Monday in Sao Paulo, the merger is set to create "the largest private financial group in the southern hemisphere" and among the 20 largest in the world.

"It is a financial institution with the capacity to compete in the international stage with the world's great banks," said the statement issued by Itausa and Unibanco Holdings, which control both banks.

Madrid - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday gave his backing to Spain's aspiration to attend an economic summit in Washington, to which Spain has not been invited.

The presence of one of the world's biggest economies at the economic summit in mid-November would be "very useful" for the international community, Barroso said at a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a visit to Madrid.

Ljubljana - Slovenian centre-left leader Borut Pahor was formally tapped as prime minister-elect Monday and pledged to focus on the economy as the tiny European Union nation faces tougher times.

Pahor's Social Democrats won the most votes in September 21 parliamentary elections and were expected to lead a four-party coalition government with 55 seats in the 
90-member parliament.

Pahor, speaking after President Danilo Tuerk formally nominated him to head the next government, pledged to work to stabilize the economy.

Vienna  - Austria on Monday nationalized a troubled bank for the first time since the global financial crisis hit, paying a token 2 euros (2.55 dollars) to rescue the nation's eighth-largest lender.

Kommunalkredit Austria, which expanded into Central and Eastern Europe in recent years, was sold to the Austrian government by Austrian financial company Oesterreichische Volksbank AG and French-Belgian group Dexia, the banks said in statements.

Brussels - Eurozone finance ministers Monday faced the unenviable double task of trying to lead efforts to reform global capitalism while seeking a fix for their troubled economies.

The evening meeting in Brussels was the first in a series designed to prepare a common European position ahead of global talks on the financial crisis taking place in Washington on November 15.

And it came amid gloomy new forecasts from the European Commission, which now expects the euro economy to teeter on the brink of recession in 2009.

Budapest - Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany on Monday proposed a 3.9-billion-euro (5-billion-dollar) crisis plan to boost Hungary's economy.

The move comes after international lenders pitched in over the last week to help the eastern European nation stave off financial collapse.

Gyurcsany has called the 1-billion-forint plan a stabilization and stimulus package designed to protect jobs and export markets.