China prices fall

BEIJING: China on Tuesday reported its first drop in consumer prices in more than six years, adding to worries about how the world’s third-largest economy is weathering the global slowdown. With cost of food, clothing and fuel declining, the CPI — the main gauge of inflation — dropped by 1.6 per cent in February from a year earlier. — AFP

Global growth to dip

DAR ES SALAAM: Global economic growth could dip below zero for the first time in decades in 2009, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Tuesday. “The IMF expects global growth to slow below zero this year, the worst performance in most of our lifetimes,” he said. “Continued deleveraging by world financial institutions, combined with a collapse in confidence is depressing domestic demand across the world,” Strauss-Kahn said. — AFP

Migrants be banned

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian unions have urged the government to cancel visas given to 70,000 Bangladeshi workers as the country faces layoffs and the threat of a recession. — AFP