Wellington - The New Zealand government would consider subsidizing a day off every two weeks for workers to try to save jobs as the international recession bites, Prime Minister John Key said Friday.
The idea of factory hands working only nine days every two weeks was debated by business leaders at a job summit organized by the centre-right government to consider ways to handle rising unemployment as critical export income falls.
Under the scheme, the government would pay for workers to undergo training or do community work on the 10th day.
Sydney - Interest rates in Australia were unchanged at 3.25 per cent Tuesday after the central bank decided further relaxing monetary policy would increase inflationary pressures.
Wellington - The New Zealand economy, which has been in recession since early last year, faces a "long, slow grind" back to normality, the country's leading economic think tank said Tuesday.
Cairo - Since the beginning of 2009, the blare of ships' horns passing through the Suez Canal has become less frequent, so it came as no surprise when latest figures showed a drop in canal revenues.
Singapore - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an TV interview late Friday that there is a need for a rebalancing in the world economy, which could mean a shift away from Asia's current export-driven model.
Washington - Republican legislators slammed President Barack Obama's economic agenda on Friday for mimicking the ideals of socialist European governments, one day after the president revealed his 3.6-trillion-dollar budget for 2010.
