New York  - The US government and Citigroup Inc have cut a deal on the government substantially increasing its stake in the ailing bank, the Treasury announced Friday.

Under the agreement, the government will own as much as 36 per cent of the bank's shares in exchange for better access to Treasury funds, which could help Citigroup avoid bankruptcy.

The part-nationalization of what was once the world's largest bank has fuelled speculation that more financial institutions could face a similar government takeover.

Berne  - Jean-Pierre Roth, chairman of the Swiss National Bank, said Friday he would retire at the end of the year, having served in the role since 2001. He named no successor.

Roth, who worked for the bank for three decades, will step down in midst of a global economic crisis, which has also hit Switzerland, particularly as it is an exporting nation and relies on a financial sector that makes up an estimated 12 per cent of GDP.

Many observers have commended Roth's monetary policy during the onset of the financial woes and as it turned into an economic crisis.

Kuala Lumpur - Leaders of developing Muslim nations agreed Friday to set up a regional seed bank as part of initiatives aimed at boosting agricultural production and averting a possible food crisis.

The agreement came as agriculture ministers and business officials from the Group of Eight developing Islamic countries, or D8, ended a two-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Some of the main endeavours under their Kuala Lumpur Initiative were establishing a D8 Umbrella Seed Bank and enhancing joint-venture projects to build more fertilizer plants in member countries.

London  - Lloyds Banking Group Friday reported 2008 losses of 9.9 billion pounds (14 billion dollars) following its growth into a "superbank" through the emergency takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) last September.

Lloyds core division made a pre-tax profit of 807 million pounds in 2008, but HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, had suffered losses of 9.9 billion pounds, the banking group said .

Even so, Lloyds 2008 profits were by 80 per cent lower than in 2007.

The government-backed takeover at the height of the banking crisis last September had been highly controversial, and the combined group is expected to announce major job losses in its 145,000-strong global workforce.

Karvy Stock Broking Limited has maintained ‘Sell’ rating on Axis Bank stock to achieve a target of Rs 330 today.

The investors are advised to sell the stock in order to avoid loss, as there are full chances of a downward trend in this stock.

If the stock fell below 322, it may see more weakness.

According to Karvy, investors can sell the stock below 350 with a strict stop loss of Rs 360.

After selling the stock today, the interested investors can buy the stock again, but only on declines. The long term investors should stay invested to reap higher returns.

State Bank of India (SBI) plans to restructure about 15,000 small and medium enterprise (SME) loan accounts before the end of the financial year. This is in addition to the 26,000 accounts the country's largest bank has restructured since December.

B S Bhasin, chief general manager, banking operations, said a majority of the restructured accounts were in the auto component & garment sectors.

The Reserve Bank of India in December issued a directive asking banks to restructure loans of SMEs owing to the difficulties they were facing in the light of the slowdown. Restructuring of loans would mean an extension of the repayment period and reduction in the equated monthly installments.