Washington  - The US economy shrank in nearly all parts of the country in the first two months of the year, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in the latest sign of a deepening US recession.

Ten of 12 US regions reported "weaker conditions or declines in economic activity" since the start of 2009, according to the central bank's Beige Book, which is compiled from local business reports around the country.

Washington  - The United States launched an effort Wednesday to help homeowners pay off their mortgages, hoping to stabilize a housing crisis that lies at the centre of the country's deep recession.

President Barack Obama last month announced a 75-billion-dollar plan to help up to 9 million homeowners refinance their mortgages and avoid foreclosure.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed Wednesday on the structure of a 100-billion-euro (125 billion dollars) government fund to aid struggling firms.

Companies hard hit by the global economic downturn will be able to apply for state assistance from the first half of March under the terms of the deal that runs until the end of
2009.

Budapest - The Hungarian forint fell to a record low of 312 against the euro on Wednesday morning, heightening concern over Hungary's ability to meet its external debt obligations and putting further pressure on Hungarians with foreign currency loans.

Finance Minister Janos Veres sought to dismiss fears that Hungary was on the brink of a sovereign default, saying that its central bank has over 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) in its foreign currency reserves.

Washington - President Barack Obama promised to cut waste across all government agencies, announcing a review Wednesday of the administration's methods for awarding contracts.

With an economic crisis that has forced the government to run up a massive budget deficit, Obama said he could cut billions of dollars of spending in the Defence Department and other agencies by reducing cost overruns, ending needless projects and limiting the use of private contractors.

Washington  - US government officials warned they may need even more money to stabilize the country's crumbling financial sector as they launched a new
1-trillion-dollar programme Tuesday designed to unfreeze credit markets.

The US Treasury and Federal Reserve said they would begin directly lending up to 200 billion dollars by March 25 to help restart securitization markets, a critical component of the struggling US economy that provides loans for small businesses, cars, student tuition, credit cards and other core sectors.