Bratislava - Slovakia, which will switch to the euro on January 1, has no immediate plans to match the European Central Bank's interest-rate cut, a national bank spokeswoman said Thursday.

Slovakia's financial sector has an adequate capital base and enough liquidity to operate at current borrowing costs, spokeswoman Jana Kovacova said.

The Slovakian National Bank will bring interest rates back in line with the ECB at some point before joining the eurozone, she said.

The ECB joined the US, British, Canadian, Swiss and Swedish central banks Wednesday in slashing rates by half a percentage point in a bid to prop up tumbling stock markets and ease frozen-up credit markets.

The move left the ECB's lead rate at 3.75 per cent.

Frankfurt - European sto

The Canadian maker of the BlackBerry family of smartphones, Research in Motion has unveiled its first ever touch screen device ‘The Storm’ on Wednesday. 

Targeted at business and consumer markets, the newly launched device is BlackBerry’s official answer to rival touch-based smartphones launched recently including Apple's 3G iPhone, Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1, T-Mobile's Google Android-powered G1 and Nokia's 5800 music phone launched last week.

‘The 3G Storm’ will be available through Verizon Wireless in the US, and Vodafone in the European market by November 2008.

Washington - Europe is edging toward recession and its banking system faces "extraordinary financial stress" that will not ease quickly, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

Economic growth in the 15 countries using the euro will slump from an average 1.3 per cent this year to 0.2 per cent in 2009, while unemployment will rise to 8.3 per cent from 7.6 per cent, an IMF report said.

Stock market trading around the world Tuesday was uneven as investors appeared uncertain where to turn next in the ongoing international financial turmoil and new trouble spots emerging.

Frankfurt - The European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday provided 250 billion euros (338 billion dollars) to commercial banks in a regular one-week loan at an interest rate of 4.99 per cent.