Manila - The Philippines' inflation rate fell to 6.4 per cent in March as prices of food and other basic commodities eased, the government said Tuesday.
The March index was down from 7.3 per cent in February and was the same level as in March 2008, the National Statistics Office said.
The office said inflation decelerated "as slower annual inflation rates were registered in the indices of all commodity groups," such as food, electricity and fuel.
Sydney - The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3 per cent in hopes of breathing life into the somnolent economy.
It was the fifth cut in six months in the rate the central bank charges banks for borrowing.
The further easing of monetary policy came on the heels of figures showing a further fall in inflation. The bank said it now sees recession as a worse threat than inflation.
Tokyo - Japan's foreign reserves exceeded 1 trillion dollars in March, thanks to gains in the appraisal values of its US Treasury bond holdings and euro-denominated assets, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
The nation's foreign reserves totaled 1.02 trillion dollars, up from 9.2 billion dollars in the previous month.
Japan held 905.53 billion dollars in foreign securities as of March 31 while its foreign currency deposits amounted to 84.2 billion dollars.
Washington/Zurich - Four key central banks agreed on Monday to provide foreign currency to the Federal Reserve should it need to pump liquidity into financial institutions, many of which are in danger of collapse due to a lack of capital.
Should the need arise, the Fed would be able to access up to 285 billion dollars in euro, yen, sterling and Swiss francs through the new swap agreements, which come on top of previous commitments with the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.
Zurich - Four key central banks have agreed to provide foreign currency to the Federal Reserve so that it can pump liquidity into financial institutions in need of capital, the Swiss National Bank said Monday.
Should the need arise, the Fed would be able to access euro, yen, sterling and Swiss francs through the new swap agreements, which come on top of previous commitments, with the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.
Warsaw - Bankruptcies in Poland rose 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, the daily Rzeczpospolita reported Monday.
Some 100 companies declared bankruptcy in the first quarter of the year, it cited a study by credit insurer Euler Hermes as saying. The number was expected to rise as the trend spreads from urban centres.
"Many companies were created for the time of economic prosperity," analyst Andrzej Sadowski told the daily. "They didn't prove themselves in hard conditions."
Manila - The Philippines' inflation rate fell to 6.4 per cent in March as prices of food and other basic commodities eased, the government said Tuesday.
Sydney - The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3 per cent in hopes of breathing life into the somnolent economy.
Tokyo - Japan's foreign reserves exceeded 1 trillion dollars in March, thanks to gains in the appraisal values of its US Treasury bond holdings and euro-denominated assets, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
Washington/Zurich - Four key central banks agreed on Monday to provide foreign currency to the Federal Reserve should it need to pump liquidity into financial institutions, many of which are in danger of collapse due to a lack of capital.
Zurich - Four key central banks have agreed to provide foreign currency to the Federal Reserve so that it can pump liquidity into financial institutions in need of capital, the Swiss National Bank said Monday.
Warsaw - Bankruptcies in Poland rose 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, the daily Rzeczpospolita reported Monday.
