Sealing a global free trade deal would add $11 trillion to the world economy and pull 160 million people out of poverty by 2030, economists said in a study published Tuesday.

Member states of the World Trade Organization launched negotiations in 2001 in the Qatari capital Doha for a global deal on slashing trade tariffs and removing subsidies, but have failed to reach an agreement.

Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, whose gaffe advising women to trust "karma" for pay raises sparked a firestorm, earned $84.3 million this year, according to an SEC filing Monday.

That amount, for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, included a base salary of $919,000, along with a bonus of $3.6 million, as well as stock options worth $79.8 million -- though he can't exercise those options until 2019, the filing reported.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded in the third quarter at its slowest pace since the depths of the global financial crisis, official data showed Tuesday, but analysts said the world's second-largest economy may have bottomed out.

The 7.3 percent year-on-year increase in July-September was lower than the 7.5 percent expansion in the previous three months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, and the slowest since the 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund said Monday it had bought a 19.9 percent stake in Hong Kong-based retail operator Lifestyle International Holdings for $600 million (470 million euros).

The Qatar Investment Authority said the acquisition was part of its strategy in "diversifying" its investments and "expanding into new markets in Asia", according to a statement published on the official QNA news agency.

French and German ministers met in Berlin on Monday, amid calls on Germany to do more to boost growth in Europe, while France faces a battle in Brussels over its budget.

The meeting comes at a crucial time for Paris, which is at loggerheads with Brussels over its 2015 budget as it is likely to overshoot targets once again.

The current ultra-expansive monetary policy around the world could pose a threat to financial stability, the chief economist of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Basel warned on Monday.

In an interview with the German daily Die Welt, the chief economist of the Basel-based BIS, Claudio Borio, warned of the dangers of easy money.

Australia hopes to raise up to Aus$5.51 billion (US$4.82 billion) through the sale of the country's largest health insurer in an initial public offering, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said Monday.

The conservative government confirmed in March that Medibank Private would be sold as it seeks to offload assets to raise funds to reinvest in infrastructure.

French and German ministers are due to meet Monday to discuss ways of boosting growth in Europe's two biggest economies, as Paris called on Berlin to step up investment.

After a massive sell-off on European stock markets last week triggered by a flurry of disappointing economic data, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron are to meet German counterparts Wolfgang Schaeuble and Sigmar Gabriel in Berlin.

Ratings agency Moody's Friday downgraded Russia's credit rating to Baa2 from Baa1 citing poor growth prospects, the Ukraine crisis and sanctions as well as capital flight.

"The first driver for the downgrade ...relates to the longer term damage the already weak Russian economy is likely to incur as a result of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and, relatedly, the additional sanctions imposed against Russia," the agency said in a statement, adding that it was maintaining Russia's outlook at "negative".

The dollar Friday climbed against other currencies following dovish comments from U.S. and British central bankers and continued concern about the eurozone.

The dollar rose against the euro and yen for a second day running as global financial markets steadied, in part in response to soothing commentary from central bankers.