The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday urged Iraq to build up its weak fiscal buffers as the oil producer's economy remains highly vulnerable to the oil market. Iraq has maintained macroeconomic stability "in a difficult security and political environment," the IMF executive board said. The board, summing up a review of the Iraqi economy, urged the government to strengthen fiscal buffers and its institutions, citing still-high risks, "including from oil price volatility."

By Faith Hung and Jeanny Kao TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's exports shrank unexpectedly in April as sales to China and Europe sputtered, underscoring increasing fragility in global demand, especially for the island's high-tech products. April exports fell 1.9 percent from a year earlier, much worse than the 1.35 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll and compared with growth of 3.3 percent in March.

The US trade deficit shrank 11 percent in March from February as consumer goods imports fell, government data released Thursday showed. The Commerce Department reported the trade gap narrowed to $38.8 billion, from a revised $43.6 billion in February, the second month in a row that the deficit narrowed. A sharp drop in imports reduced the gap in March as consumer spending declined, a further sign of a slowdown in the economy. Imports totaled $223.1 billion, down from $229.6 in February.

Madrid, Apr 26 (EFE).- Spain's government is forecasting an economic contraction of 1.3 percent for 2013 and has set a goal of reducing its budget deficit to 6.3 percent of GDP by year's end, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Friday. Those figures are more pessimistic than earlier projections of a 0.5 percent contraction and a budget deficit equivalent to 4.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product this year. In terms of the unemployment rate, the government expects it to climb to 27.1 percent this year.