Wellington  - The New Zealand economy, already technically in a recession, suffered a further blow Friday when dairy farmers were warned to brace themselves for a 700-million-New-Zealand-dollar (about 364 million US dollars) cut in their projected income.

Dairy farmers are the main driver of the rural economy in New Zealand and analysts said the impact of their reduced income would be particularly harsh in small provincial towns, already facing rising unemployment as the recession bites.

Lima  - The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) on Thursday called on the region's leaders to resist the "potential reactionary measures of protectionism and draconian regulation."

ABAC president Juan Francisco Raffo and other officials said at a press conference in Lima that such measures provide an "easy way out for politicians" in the face of rising unemployment and other issues with the widening of the global financial crisis.

Strasbourg, France - European Accounting Office chief Vitor Caldeira on Thursday strongly criticized irregularities and sloppiness which he said were causing billions of euros' worth of European Un

Taipei  - Taiwan t approved issuing shopping coupons Thursday in its latest move to boost the economy which has been hit by the global financial crisis.

Chen Tain-jy, minister of the cabinet's Council for Economic Planning and Development, said Taiwan will start issuing shopping coupons on January 18, one week before the start of the Chinese New Year holidays.

Washington  - The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a two-year 2.1 billion dollar loan to Iceland to "restore confidence and stabilize the economy," the IMF announced on Wednesday.

The fund said it approved the stand-by arrangement - structured so that Iceland can immediately draw about 827 million dollars, with the rest in eight installments of about 155 million dollars - to stabilize a "banking crisis of extraordinary proportions."

Tokyo - Japan posted a trade deficit of 63.9 billion yen (661 million dollars) in October as Japanese exports fell with the global financial crisis and the yen's continued strength against other currencies, the Finance Ministry said.

Exports in October declined 7.7 per cent to 6.92 trillion yen from the same month a year before, posting the largest fall since December 2001, when exports fell 14.5 per cent.

Imports rose 7.4 per cent to 6.99 trillion yen on rises in crude oil, coal and liquefied natural gas prices.