Berlin - German producer prices surged to a 27-year high in July, the country's statistics office said Tuesday, further reducing the prospects of the European Central Bank (ECB) delivering a cut in interest rates.

Annual producer prices in Europe's biggest economy climbed by 8.9 per cent last month to record the fastest rise since October 1981 with the increase coming amid signs of slumping European economic growth.

In June, producer prices, which are considered to be an indicator of inflationary trends, rose by an annual 6.7 per cent.

Tokyo - The Bank of Japan decided Tuesday to maintain its key short-term interest rate at 0.5 per cent because the nation's economic growth has been "sluggish" and exports have been weak.

"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.

Dublin - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is currently presiding over the severest economic crisis to hit Ireland in 20 years, is a man in need of a plan.

While his predecessor, the ever-popular Bertie Ahern, was the face of the Celtic Tiger boom, which took off in the mid-1990s and was over by 2007, Cowen - once Aherne's finance minister - has misfortune to be tied to, and blamed for, Ireland's sharp economic downturn

Since taking up office on May 7, Brian Cowen has sustained two crushing political blows.

Berlin - German investor confidence remained weak in August, a key indicator to be released Tuesday is forecast to show, as concerns have set in about the outlook for Europe's biggest economy.

Drawn up by the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research, analysts predict the ZEW index for this month will come in at minus 62 points.

The world financial market and credit crisis combined with resurgent inflation have helped to fuel worries about outlook for the world economy.

London - Stallholders in the English town of Hexham have been ordered to mute the cries they use to advertise their wares, sparking an outcry at the ending of an
800-year custom, British media reported Monday.

The local authority in the town with a population of around 11,000 issued the order silencing centuries of tradition in response to complaints from office workers who said they suffered from headaches as a result.