Washington - Slower demand from developed nations and increasing turmoil in regional markets has decreased growth and productivity in emerging Asian economies, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

A major policy challenge for this extremely diverse region is how to respond to the global financial turbulence and weakening growth outlook, without losing sight of increasing inflation.

Washington  - The global credit crisis has had relatively little impact in Middle Eastern countries, where economic growth is being sustained by non-oil sectors, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

The IMF's semi-annual World Economic Outlook noted that there are high inflationary pressures in the oil-exporting nations, but projected that gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the region will weaken only modestly from its current 6.5 per cent to 6 per cent in 2009.

The impact of declining demand in partner economies and rising supply constraints in the oil sector will be mitigated by a spurt in domestic demand for oil as well as increased activity in the non-oil sector.

Berlin - German gold dealers are running low on stocks of gold bars and gold coins as customers dump stocks and shares and take refuge in precious metals, a Berlin newspaper said Wednesday.

Heiko Ganss, head of the Berlin branch of gold merchant Pro Aurum, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that most traders were refusing new orders at the moment.

"Demand is running well above our capacity to supply," he was quoted saying, saying retail banks in Germany were also unable to meet demand.

"Demand has exploded in the past few days," said Stephan Henkel, a gold broker at Umicore, which presses gold bars and coins and puts them on sale. Delivery times were running at two to four weeks.

Berlin - Despite the current panic on financial markets, a recession is not in prospect in Germany, leading economic research institute, DIW, said Wednesday in Berlin.

DIW said the effects of the financial crisis were "manageable" and predicted the crisis would not spread to the rest of the economy. It forecast German gross domestic product (GDP) to grow next year by 1.0 per cent.

The Berlin institute said Germany's last upswing was coming to an end, with 2008 growth likely to settle at 1.9 per cent, well below its July forecast for the current year of 2.7 per cent.

Washington  - Federal regulators and auditors warned American International Group Inc (AIG) about a lack of transparency in monitoring its financial activities before the conglomerate nearly collapsed last month, a top Democratic lawmaker investigating the credit crisis said Tuesday.

Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Government Oversight Committee, scolded executives of the largest US insurer in his second day of hearings into the financial turmoil on Wall Street.

Washington - Federal regulators and auditors warned American International Group Inc (AIG) about a lack of transparency in monitoring its financial activities before the conglomerate nearly collapsed last month, a top Democratic lawmaker investigating the credit crisis said Tuesday.

Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Government Oversight Committee, scolded executives of the largest US insurer in his second day of hearings into the financial turmoil on Wall Street.