Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said today credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s showed “terrible judgment” in lowering the US government’s AAA status.

CHRISTINE Lagarde has been named as the first woman head of the International Monetary Fund to take on Europe’s debt crisis and balance the demands of fast-growing emerging nations with the needs of a recovering developed world.

Top industrialised nations warned against “excessive volatility” in the yen exchange rate today, Japan’s Finance Ministry said.

THE European Central Bank (ECB) is unlikely to increase interest rates in the short-term after the recent rise in oil prices, according to Bank of Ireland economist Dr Dan McLaughlin.