In an interview with the Financial Times yesterday (Monday), Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government is ready to expand on the $586 billion (2 trillion yuan) stimulus package it unveiled late last year.

Australia’s central bank took the hatchet to its benchmark interest rate Tuesday, cutting 75 basis points to 5.25%, the lowest since March 2005. Since the start of September, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates three times for a total of 200 basis points, in an attempt to insulate the economy from the global financial crisis.