ASIAN economic growth will slow sharply as major industrial economies contract and financial firms reduce risky assets, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

It said growth would likely start to pick up again late in 2009, but a recovery would be gradual. In a twice-yearly regional economic outlook for Asia, the IMF said the risks of deflation in Japan were low. It also said the strains from the global financial crisis could extend beyond 2009, exerting more pressure on Asian economies.

NEW DELHI - INDIANS must 'banish thought of recession,' the finance minister said on Monday, as he forecast the economy would still be the second-fastest growing in the world despite the global financial crisis.

NEW YORK - WALL Street showed some relief Monday over the government's plan to bail out Citigroup Inc. - a move it hopes will help address some of the uncertainty hounding the financial sector.