Australia’s economy grew last quarter at the fastest pace in almost two years, underscoring the central bank’s decision yesterday to boost borrowing costs for the fourth time in five meetings. Gross domestic product climbed 0.9 percent from the third quarter, when it gained a revised 0.3 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. That [...]

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Toyota Motor Corp. will offer incentives including no-interest loans and discounted leases to win back buyers as the world’s largest carmaker tries to offset a U.S. sales slump amid record vehicle recalls. From this month, Toyota buyers can choose either a loan with no interest for as long as five years or a low-cost lease on [...]

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TOKYO : Japan’s lower house on Tuesday passed a record trillion-dollar budget for fiscal 2010, adding to the country’s bulging public debt burden as Tokyo tries to stimulate a sluggish economic recovery. The 92.3 trillion yen (1.0 trillion dollar) budget includes new child-care allowances, free public high school tuition and other measures promised by the [...]

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