Bratislava  - A decade after Slovakia set out to abandon its reputation of a thuggish post-communist backwater the country is only weeks away from crowning its new image of central Europe's economic tiger.

Slovakia is making the last preparations to switch to the euro on January 1 in a feat for the country of 5 million whose recent history serves as a blueprint for economic success.

Berlin  - German business confidence is to set to fall for the seventh consecutive month in December, a key survey to be released Thursday is forecast to say, adding to signs that the downturn in Europe's biggest economy is gaining momentum.

With the global economic gloom threatening Germany's key export machine, analysts predict that the closely-watched Ifo business confidence index will mark the end of the year by slumping to 84 points.

Wellington  - The New Zealand government on Thursday warned of tough times ahead after new Treasury forecasts painted a gloomy picture for an economy that has already been in recession this year.

The Treasury predicted a steep rise in unemployment from 3.7 per cent this year to 6.4 per cent over the next 15 months, economic growth virtually stagnant until 2010-2011 and soaring national debt.

After years of budget surpluses, the Treasury forecast cash deficits rising from 6.6 billion New Zealand dollars (3.8 billion US dollars) this fiscal year to 11.4 billion New Zealand dollars by 2013.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang arrived in Beijing Wednesday for talks with China's leaders over the effects of the global economic slump on the former British colony.

Tsang is to meet President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other top officials during his annual reporting trip to the Chinese capital, which was expected to be dominated by the impact of the recession.

Singapore  - Singapore's non-oil exports declined 17 per cent in November from the same month a year earlier because of declining demand in Europe, the United States and China, the government's trade-promotion agency said Wednesday.

The drop was the most in six years and was greater than the 15-per-cent dip recorded in October by International Enterprise Singapore.

On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil exports declined by 2.8 per cent in November after the previous month's 7.5-per-cent decrease, the agency said.

Total exports, including oil, fell 11.8 per cent, it said.

New York, Dec. 17 : The United States and other Western donors should agree to a 100 billion economic package for Pakistan provided it `verifiably eliminates its entire nuclear stockpile and industrial base that sustains it.

According to an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, President Asif Ali Zardari during his recent visit to the United Nations made repeated appeals for financial aid from the international community.

The WSJ report says that the 100 billion dollars should be `administered by an independent authority and disbursed over 10 years, on condition that Pakistan remain a democratic and secular state (no military rulers; no Sharia law).'