Inflation in Brazil slowed to 0.2 percent in June compared to the month before, but, at 6.7 percent over 12 months, was still well above the government's target of 4.5 percent, according to the latest official figures Friday.

The June figure was the lowest since the same month the year before, when consumer prices rose 0.08 percent, the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) reported.

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim said Thursday he hopes Egypt's loan and assistance program will continue despite the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, but called for progress toward new elections "as quickly as possible."

"We are in the middle right now of trying to understand just what did happen and what the legal status is of the government in place," Kim said at a press conference at Chile's government palace, after he met with President Sebastian Pinera.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest technology firm by revenue, on Friday fueled concerns about flagging demand for high-end smartphones with a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast for the second quarter.

The South Korean giant forecast of 9.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion) in operating profit for the April-June quarter would be a record. But analysts had expected a figure of more than 10 trillion won, and shares in the firm lost more than three percent in afternoon trade.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Friday it will close its only European solar cell plant in Hungary, resulting in the loss of 550 jobs.

The assembly factory in the city of Dorog will end production in September before its official closure in March, a Panasonic spokeswoman in Tokyo said.

Greece's reform minister said on Thursday that the indebted country was close to a deal with its EU-IMF creditors on cutting state jobs which would clear the way for the next bailout installment.

"We will definitely be ready on Monday," Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters after the end of a meeting between representatives of Greece's international creditors, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras.

Pakistan on Thursday asked the International Monetary Fund for a $5.3 billion, three-year loan to boost growth in a bid to rebuild foreign exchange reserves, an energy crisis and a sliding currency.

The move comes just weeks after the new government was sworn into office after winning May elections that provided Pakistan with its first ever democratic transition of power.

The Vatican has posted a 2.2 million euro ($2.85 million) budget surplus for 2012, an improvement from the previous year and some good news as it struggles to cope with a scandal involving its embattled bank.

In its annual financial statement Thursday, the Holy See said better management had helped it recover from one of its worst deficits a year earlier, when it booked a 14.9 million euro shortfall.

The Bank of England has opted to refrain from pumping more money into the UK economy in its first meeting since new Governor Mark Carney's arrival.

The Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates at 0.5 percent Thursday and decided against expanding its stimulus program.

Nestle SA says it will cut infant formula prices in China by an average of 11 percent starting Monday amid an investigation into alleged price-fixing by several foreign companies.

The price cuts by the company's Wyeth Nutrition unit will be maintained through 2014, and the prices of some products will be cut by up to 20 percent, Nestle spokesman Jonathan Dong said in an email Thursday.

Italian police have found 13 suspicious money transfers through the Vatican bank, a newspaper said Tuesday, reporting that a senior cleric arrested last week allegedly offered his own accounts to transfer money for his friends.

The Corriere della Sera daily said that the suspect operations which have triggered money laundering controls totalled more than 1.0 million euros ($1.3 million) and were similar to a larger 23-million-euro transfer that led to an investigation that is shaking up the bank.