Greece's finance minister on Thursday said the debt-wracked country must return as planned to sovereign bond markets next year as new data showed the record jobless rate climbing further. "I hope that Greece will return to markets at the end of 2014, after we have achieved a primary surplus and growth," Stournaras told state television NET in an interview.

AYLESBURY, England - Japan convinced its partners in the Group of Seven leading industrial economies Saturday that it was not manipulating its currency as part of its bold attempt to get its economy out of a near two-decade period of stagnation.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury said Friday that it took in a rare surplus of $113 billion in April, the largest in five years. Steady economic growth and higher tax rates have boosted the government's tax revenue, keeping this year's annual budget deficit on pace to be the smallest since 2008. A smaller deficit is also likely to give negotiators more time to work out a deal on raising the nation's borrowing limit. Through the first seven months of the budget year, the deficit was $488 billion. That's lower than last year's deficit of $720 billion over the same period.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia - Slovenia's government announced Thursday an austerity plan designed to raise 540 million euros ($707 million) in new taxes as part of an effort to balance the budget and avoid seeking an international bailout. The small Alpine country, once a model of socialist economy, is racing to convince investors it has a credible strategy for raising the funds to stay solvent and avoid becoming the fifth euro country after Cyprus to ask for financial aid.