Falling oil prices have slowed the phenomenal expansion of Canada's oil sands extraction trade but the industry remains optimistic it is only a temporary setback.

The price of oil fell $60 from June 2014 to January 2015, resulting in a massive budget deficit for the Canadian province of Alberta which will receive Can$7 billion (U.S.$5.7 billion) less in energy royalties this year, forcing the local government to hike taxes and cut services for the first time in a generation.

Saudi Arabia has told Kuwait it wants to halt production from a jointly operated oilfield in the neutral zone between the two countries, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Wafra field, which currently produces around 200,000 barrels per day, is the largest onshore field in the 5,000-square-kilometer neutral zone which the Gulf neighbors exploit jointly under a nearly 50-year-old treaty.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the worst was over for Russia's crisis-hit economy, pointing to the recent rebound of the ruble despite Western sanctions over Ukraine.

"The ruble has stabilized and strengthened," Putin said during his annual phone-in with Russians. "Experts believe that we have passed the peak of the problems."

Foreign direct investment into China picked up in March, official figures showed Thursday, though outbound investment from the world's second-largest economy slowed sharply.

FDI rose 2.2 percent year-on-year last month to $12.4 billion, the commerce ministry said, an acceleration from February's 0.9 percent gain.

The dollar faced selling pressure Thursday as a batch of weak U.S. data raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve will push back an interest rate hike beyond mid-year.

In Tokyo, the greenback briefly slipped below the 119 yen level before recovering to 119.33 yen in afternoon trade, against 119.14 yen in New York. It was above 120 yen earlier this week.

A sluggish global economy, the Greek debt crisis and continuing fallout of the Ebola epidemic will take focus beginning Thursday when top finance officials gather for the World Bank and IMF Spring meetings.

With high unemployment festering in advanced economies, and emerging countries entering their fifth straight year of slowing growth, how to fire up output and demand is the primary order of business for the world's central bankers and finance ministers in Washington.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Wednesday that he does not expect Greece to leave the eurozone, even if markets have already priced that into their calculations.

But he also said no deal had been reached yet between Athens and European Union negotiators on another financial lifeline for the country, as fears mount that it will default on its massive debt.

The head of the OECD on Wednesday credited a wave of loose monetary policy for preventing a global economic collapse, but warned it was now up to governments to lift growth and safeguard their economies.

Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, made the comments in Tokyo where the 34-member club of rich nations was presenting its latest report on the Japanese economy.

The German government said Wednesday it will bring down overall public debt in the coming years as robust economic growth and record employment enables it to keep its finances in the black.

The German finance ministry announced that Europe's biggest economy aims to cut overall debt to 61.5 percent of economic output by 2019 from 74.7 percent last year.

Nokia has struck a 15.6-billion-euro deal to buy its rival Alcatel-Lucent to create the world's biggest supplier of mobile phone network equipment, both firms said Wednesday.

The merger of two companies that were once new technology stars but have since lost some of their luster will produce a European champion able to take on Nokia's Swedish rival Ericsson or fierce Chinese competition.