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The party of President Viktor Yanukovich pushed for a change in the law on Thursday to ease the creation of a new ruling coalition, essential if Ukraine is to dig itself out of economic crisis and avoid elections.

Iceland can get by without more cash from the International Monetary Fund until it needs to refinance debt in 2011, although any big delay will hit its economy, a central banker said on Thursday.

Ukraine's ruling coalition collapsed on Tuesday as newly elected President Viktor Yanukovich moved to oust Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and consolidate power.

Will India go in for buying the 191 tonnes of gold that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to sell soon? Yes, India is a potential buyer for the remaining stock of IMF gold that is to be sold in the open bullion market, analysts said on Wednesday.

Pakistan received on Wednesday $349.3 million from the United States as part of a fund to help the U.S. ally sustain efforts to fight Islamist militancy, a central bank official said on Wednesday.

Greece's fiscal problems must be solved within the euro zone rather than with the International Monetary Fund , French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said in an interview published in a Greek newspaper on Sunday.

The European Union should be more specific on how it would support Greece in a crisis, to help lower the highly indebted country's borrowing costs now, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said on Thursday.

Growing mountains of U.S. government debt will increase pressure on Federal Reserve to hold interest rates low, making it harder to avoid inflation, a senior Fed official said on Tuesday.

European leaders have reached a deal to provide aid to Greece, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said on Thursday, in an unprecedented move to stave off a broader crisis in the 16-nation bloc that shares the euro.

Euro area finance ministers agreed their countries would take determined and coordinated action to help Greece, drawing on IMF expertise but not the Fund's money, an EU government source said on Thursday.

European Union leaders will lay the foundations for a financial bailout of Greece at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, but any package will demand deep fiscal and economic adjustments by Athens in return.

European nations finally gave some public indications this week that they may orchestrate some sort of bailout for Greece as investors grow increasingly concerned.

European governments are considering various options to help heavily indebted Greece in what would be the first rescue of a euro zone member in the currency's 11-year history.

Reassurances about debt-strapped Greece and agreement that banks should pay for future rescue funds capped an international meeting in Canada's Arctic, as European policymakers sought to convince jittery markets that they have things under control.

Finance chiefs from the world's rich powers focused on the euro zone's debt crisis at an Arctic summit and a top official said Europe was determined to solve its problems without the International Monetary Fund.

Facing the most severe economic strains since its birth 11 years ago, the euro zone looks likely to hold together for now but the exit of some of its weaker members cannot be ruled out in the long term.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday urged the United States, Britain and other countries to cooperate on new policies and regulations in the wake of the financial crisis.

An acceleration in U.S. economic growth at the end of last year has fanned optimism about the outlook for global growth among business chiefs and policymakers in Davos.

The International Monetary Fund sharply raised its global economic growth forecast, casting developing countries in a leading role while rich nations struggle with high unemployment and government debt.

The Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar rallied against the US dollar on news of the European stock market recovery and comments from various officials pledging their support for continued government stimulus.

France raised its economic growth forecast for 2010 on Monday but the central banks of Germany and Italy offered more sobering readouts on the probable strength of the recovery from recession in Europe.

Developed countries may slip back into recession if they exit strategies taken to battle the global financial crisis too early, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Monday.

REYKJAVIK, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Iceland's economy minister said on Wednesday there were signs the country's IMF-led aid package would be delayed after a hitch in a deal to repay the UK and the Netherlands money lost in the island's banking collapse.

Whether Europe's most troubled economies have the political will to tackle record deficits will preoccupy investors in Western Europe in 2010, along with Britain's election and potential overspill from emerging market crises.

The International Monetary Fund has approved a $1.2 billion aid payment to Pakistan after concluding a review of the country's economic performance, the fund said in a statement on Wednesday.

The European Union urged the International Monetary Fund on Friday to pursue a global tax on financial transactions to limit the risk of another economic crisis, despite U.S. opposition.

Billionaire financier George Soros told Reuters on Thursday he had found a way to unlock a stalemate on climate finance using International Monetary Fund assets.

Governments can adopt more ambitious carbon pricing schemes to address the effects of climate change without harming the global economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

The euro is on the strong side against the dollar and could strengthen more because of carry trades and speculative play on its possible further rise, IMF European head Marek Belka said on Wednesday.