financial collapse. Sarris told reporters in Nicosia today he was resigning because a government committee had been set up to investigate the country’s woes, including his time as chairman of Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl (CPB) last year. His replacement is Labor Minister Haris Georgiades, who will be sworn in at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, according to a statement from the president’s office. Sarris, 66, announced his decision as the Cypriot government completed talks on the terms for the aid with the so- called troika of officials representing the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Union. The accord will be discussed at a euro working group meeting of finance officials on April 4. •
Austerity Drags on Slovenian Economy. Pressure is building on Slovenia, with the country's government bonds suffering bouts of weakness and fresh signs that costcutting measures are pinching the economy. Austerity measures, recession in major trade partners and efforts to clean up an overstretched banking sector will drag Slovenia's gross domestic product down 1.9% this year—a steeper decline that the central bank's earlier forecast of a 0.7% drop, the central bank said, Slovenian news agency STA reported Tuesday. The biggest drag on the economy continues to be heavily indebted state-owned banks, where loan losses are running far ahead of expectations. Yields on Slovenian government debt rose last week to their highest level in five months. Despite falling 0.06 percentage point on Tuesday, the yield on the Slovenian bond maturing in 2024 is still comparable to the levels seen in Portugal and Ireland before they were shut out of bond markets.
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BOJ’s Kuroda Faces One-Year Window on Ending Deflation. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda gave himself two years to do “whatever it takes” to end deflation and revive the world’s third-largest economy. Kuroda needs price rises in six to 12 months or the market may lose confidence in his ability to reach a 2 percent inflation target by 2015, say Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The BOJ will boost monthly bond purchases by about 50 percent to 5.2 trillion yen ($55.7 billion) at a twoday meeting starting today, according to the median forecast in a survey of economists by Bloomberg News. Pressure for results is growing amid doubts from economists and ex-BOJ officials over whether Kuroda can meet his deadline. Kuroda, who said yesterday that bold action is necessary to meet expectations, has indicated that expanded purchases of government bonds will be the main tool for easing.
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China’s Service Industries Expanded at Faster Pace in March. China’s service industries expanded at a faster pace last month, supporting a further acceleration of growth in the world’s second-biggest economy. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 55.6 from 54.5 in February, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement today. A separate services gauge from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics rose to 54.3, Page 2 of 7