Bureaucracy, a lack of competition and a banking system in ruins have ossified the Tunisian economic model, the World Bank said Wednesday, calling for sweeping reforms.

Poverty and soaring unemployment were behind the 2011 uprising when Tunisians overthrew longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Britain's 12-month inflation dipped to 1.5 percent in August from 1.6 percent in July, official data showed on Tuesday, easing pressure on the Bank of England to raise rates.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation measure matched May's level, which had been a near five-year low point.

South Korea's finance minister said Tuesday that "alarm bells" were ringing over Asia's fourth largest economy, and warned of the sort of protracted slowdown that hit Japan in the 1990s.

While stressing that South Korea's fiscal position remained "very strong" and provided a lot of room for manoeuvre, Choi Kyung-Hwan said action was needed to avoid a damaging and extended slump.

The Argentine economy will grow 2.8 percent in 2015, the government said Monday, despite the recession gripping the country.

In its annual budget proposal to Congress, President Cristina Kirchner's government forecast the country would return to growth next year and slash annual inflation to 15.6 percent.

China's outbound investment more than doubled in August to $12.62 billion, data showed Tuesday, far outstripping foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country, which fell to a four-year low.

China has been actively acquiring foreign assets, particularly energy and resources, to power its economy, with firms encouraged to "go out" and make overseas acquisitions to gain market access and international experience. Officials have said overseas direct investment (ODI) could exceed FDI this year.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko faces a strong backlash from some of his staunchest supporters for bowing to Russian pressure and postponing the implementation of an EU trade pact which is due to be ratified Tuesday.

Several of them have warned the decision to delay the ex-Soviet state's economic tilt westward could spark a repeat of the EuroMaidan protests that toppled Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych earlier this year, after he rejected the same deal.

China's central bank said Monday it had approved state-owned Bank of China, one of the nation's four biggest lenders, to be its designated yuan currency clearing house in Paris.

In June, China and France signed an agreement for yuan clearing arrangements, one of a number of such accords Beijing has sought with foreign countries to help boost use of its currency overseas.

The Russian ruble fell on Monday to a historic low against the dollar after the West imposed fresh sanctions over Ukraine.

The ruble slumped to 38.04 to the dollar shortly after Moscow markets opened, at 0619 GMT. It was the first time that the ruble had weakened beyond the rate of 38 to the dollar.

French flag carrier Air France was set to scrap at least half its flights Monday as pilots began a strike against the company's plan to develop its low-cost subsidiary.

Several passengers were stranded as the week-long strike kicked off, sparking outrage among weary travelers such as Jean-Marc Ragot, who arrived from Nairobi to Paris to find his connecting flight to the eastern French city of Lyon cancelled.

Sickly eurozone recovery is a drag on the outlook for the global economy, the OECD warned on Monday as it cut growth forecasts for most major advanced economies.

The sluggish recovery is also at risk from increased tension over conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and uncertainty over the future of Scotland, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.