Brussels - The European Commission on Thursday approved Sweden's financial rescue package, which involves the state providing up to 1,500 billion Swedish kroner (201 billion dollars) in debt guarantees to banks and other lenders.

The plan's approval by the European Union executive came just three days after it was officially received in Brussels.

"This decision shows that when member states follow the commission's guidance on overcoming the financial crisis, they can obtain rapid approval," said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Singapore - The US Federal Reserve, the Banco Central do Brasil, the Banco de Mexico, the Bank of Korea, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Thursday announced the establishment of temporary reciprocal currency arrangements (swap lines).

Berlin - German unemployment fell in October, defying the economic gloom facing the nation, analysts say.

Washington - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved a new programme to provide emergency loans to countries facing serious cash shortages in the wake of an ongoing financial crisis.

Countries with a "track record" of solid economic policies can now apply for three-month loans without the usual conditions attached, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

Buenos Aires - Argentina's central bank intervened in the country's foreign exchange market Wednesday with an injection of 1 billion dollars to contain the depreciation of the peso.

In the early hours of activity, the dollar rose 2.08 per cent against the peso to 3.43 pesos from 3.36. The Central Bank's intervention brought it down to 3.39 pesos, an increase of 0.9 per cent in relation to the previous day's closing.

Washington - The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday by 0.5 percentage points to 1 per cent, the lowest level since June 2004, in an effort to keep the US economy out of a prolonged recession.

The US central bank acknowledged that economic activity had "slowed markedly" but made no mention of a recession that many economists expect is inevitable.