A Look At Economic Developments Around The Globe

TOKYO — Tokyo shares soared, with the country's benchmark hitting a two-month high, after Japan's finance minister said aggressive public spending to the tune 20 trillion yen ($208 billion) might be needed to end the country's painful recession. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average surged 269.57 points, or 3.4 percent, to 8,215.53 as a weaker yen also boosted sentiment.

Separately, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said it will shutter dozens of branches and cut 1,000 jobs as part of continuing efforts to streamline operations since Japan's biggest bank was formed through a merger three years ago.

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ATHENS, Greece — Greece is not planning any new measures to reduce its swelling deficit, the finance minister said, despite a warning from a top European Union official claiming tighter budget policies are needed.

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BEIRUT — Lebanon's economic growth in the first two months of this year slipped to 4 percent, but the tiny Mediterranean nation should escape largely unscathed from the effects of the global economic meltdown if the security and political situation remains stable, the Central Bank governor said. But Riad Salameh's comments to reporters were soon followed three hours later by a bombing that killed a top Palestinian official and three others in southern Lebanon. The incident marked the first apparent assassination in the country in six months, and underscored the difficulty of pinning economic hopes on security in a nation that has endured decades of war and sectarian fighting.