Karachi - The Pakistan rupee on Wednesday plunged to a new record low of 77.66 against the US dollar amid rising tension with the United States over military operations inside Pakistani territory, traders said.

The rupee finally closed at 77.40 to a dollar in the open market but traders said it would slump to 78 by Friday as worsening relations with the US, the biggest donor, could cloud prospects of Pakistan receiving urgent financial aid from multilateral agencies to boost fledging foreign currency reserves.

Tokyo - The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to maintain its key short-term interest rate unchanged at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday.

The bank's policy board voted unanimously to forego another interest rate hike amid the Japanese economy's sluggish growth.

The interest rate has remained fixed since February 2007, when it was raised from 0.25 per cent.

"Economic growth has been sluggish against the backdrop of high energy and materials prices and weaker growth in exports," the bank said in a statement.

Washington - US Senators Barack Obama and John McCain took aim at Wall Street and each other's economic policies on Tuesday, a day after stocks plummeted on news of Lehman Bros bankruptcy and a Merrill Lynch buyout.

Republican McCain called for a commission to investigate Wall Street excesses.

"In short order, we are going to put an end to the reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed that have caused a crisis on Wall Street," McCain said at a campaign event in Florida.

London - Britain's annual rate of inflation rose to 4.7 per cent in August, its highest level since records began in 1997, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday.

Frankfurt - The European Central Bank

Tokyo - Japan's central bank on Tuesday pumped 2.5 trillion yen (23.65 billion dollars) into money markets to ease the impact of the failure of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

"The Bank of Japan will carefully monitor the recent developments among US financial institutions and continue to try to secure smooth fund settlements and financial-market stability by implementing appropriate money-market operations," Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said in a statement.