INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

?The moment of truth is approaching for everyone,? said Kouvelis.

China reported Thursday a rise in trade surplus to $18.4 billion in April from $5.35 billion in March amid continued weakness in exports caused by economic crises in overseas markets.

Spain stepped up efforts to save its troubled banks on Thursday with a plan to make them recognize huge losses from a property crash, but uncertainty over the final cost of a rescue hit the euro, Spanish debt and global stock markets.

German exports unexpectedly rose for the third straight month in March as demand from outside the euro zone offset weaker sales within the currency bloc, prompting economists to predict that Europe?s biggest economy will escape recession.

A Greek sovereign default has always been a talismanic scare for the euro stakeholders. It would put the common currency under the greatest pressure since its creation, and shake the foundations of the currency bloc.

Tsipras has only three days to form a new unity government.

Myanmar can post six percent economic growth next year if the right reform steps are taken by the government, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

Samaras? party ?won? Sunday?s election, but with only about 18.9 percent of the total electorate, meaning he had to form an alliance with one or two other parties to create a viable new government.

The sudden devaluation has led to some panic-buying by consumers in Malawi, seeking to purchase basic goods.

The debate over austerity versus growth is a false choice for policymakers, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Monday.

Indonesia's economic growth slowed down in the first quarter compared to the last quarter as exports and investment remained weak due to soft global demand.

The two leading mainstream parties will likely have to form an uneasy coalition in order to form a new government.

Polling began in Greece Sunday in an early general election that could push the debt struck country to further turmoil and uncertainty.

Both the center-right New Democracy and the center-left Pasok parties could be in for beatings on Sunday as Greece conducts its first general parliamentary elections since the country's sovereign-debt crisis mushroomed in late 2009.

The disgraced former IMF chief already faces charges of aggravated pimping in an organized gang for allegedly organizing orgies in France and the U.S.

Asia is doubling the size of its foreign currency reserve safety net to $240 billion, finance ministers and central bank officials announced Thursday following a 13-nation meeting in Manila. The reserve funds a multilateral currency swap agreement aimed at protecting Asian markets from global economic crises.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former International Monetary Fund chief who faced sexual assault charges, failed to convince a New York judge that he has immunity from the civil suit against him from his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo.

Less than a week ahead of the presidential election, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to sue a website over articles which claimed that the slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi donated around $65 million to his 2007 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy linked the publication of the document to the imminent elections.

Spain's economy tipped back into recession in the first quarter and economists said spending cuts aimed at meeting strict EU deficit limits together with troubles in the banking sector would delay any return to growth until late this year or beyond.

The International Monetary Fund has reduced the growth forecast of India for this year citing a slowdown of investment and governance problems.