France's Christine Lagarde was named Tuesday as the first-ever female chief of the IMF, faced with an immediate crisis as violent Greek protests rocked the stability of the eurozone.

The French finance minister, respected for her leadership during the financial crises that have rocked Europe over the past three years, was chosen to replace countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned abruptly on May 18 after being arrested in New York for an alleged sexual assault.

European Union economic affairs chief Olli Rehn pressed the Greek parliament on Tuesday to adopt a tough austerity program, saying it was the "only way to avoid immediate default."

"This week Greece faces a critical juncture. Both the future of the country and financial stability in Europe are at stake," Rehn said in a statement.

Afghanistan's central bank governor has resigned and fled to the United States, saying his life is in danger over a corruption probe targeting influential figures connected to the government.

President Hamid Karzai's government on Tuesday dismissed the claims of Abdul Qadir Fitrat, chairman of Da Afghanistan Bank, insisting his life was not under threat and calling him a "runaway governor".

Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) has given the green light for two long-stalled oil mega projects worth more than eight billion dinars ($29 billion), a Kuwaiti daily reported on Tuesday.

Citing unidentified oil sources, the Al-Jarida newspaper said the SPC approved the building of a new state-of-the-art refinery and the upgrading of two of three existing refineries to raise output and produce cleaner products.

Arab bankers painted a sobering picture of the economic results of political upheaval in their region at a conference in Rome, saying tourism has plunged and capital flight is on the rise.

Capital flight is running into the hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) per week and budget stability is under pressure as governments are forced to increase subsidies and salaries to keep social stability, they said.

Egypt has withdrawn its loan request to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, an adviser to Finance Minister Samir Radwan told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

"We have decided not to have recourse to loans from the international financial institutions," Abdelfattah al-Gebali said.

World oil prices steadied on Friday after plunging one day earlier when the International Energy Agency decided to tap emergency crude reserves to make up for lost Libyan supplies.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, edged up 30 cents to $91.32 a barrel after plummeting $4.39, or 4.6 percent on Thursday.

The United Nations Country Team in Lebanon has announced a code of conduct for U.N. staff if they employ domestic workers, just one week after international standards were adopted by the International Labor Organization to protect their rights.

The code of conduct, the first initiative of its kind by a UNCT in the Middle East, requires the staff to abide by 21 specific standards regarding the employment of domestic workers.

Upheaval across the Arab world is causing capital flight of up to $500 million (349 million Euros) a week, Jordanian Finance Minister Mohammed Abu Hammour said on Thursday at an Arab banking conference in Rome.

"There is capital flight. Five hundred million dollars a week are leaving the Arab world. Tourism is falling, foreign direct investment is falling," Hammour said, pointing to volatility in oil prices as another negative.

Syria's flailing economy could prove the tipping point for the autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad as he seeks to quell a pro-democracy revolt posing a major threat to his rule, analysts say.

"There are some wild cards left in Syria, and the economy is one of them," said one Western diplomat, speaking from Damascus.