Russia Kostin said nonperforming loans totalled about 3

"The aggressive move pre-empts a lot of the downside riskto the economic outlook," said ASB Bank Chief Economist NickTuffley. ID:nWEL285828 The world's biggest dairy product exporter is going throughits worst recession on record. The New Zealand dollar NZDfell around 2 percent to a low of $0.5190 after the ratedecision. In Japan, Sony announced a quarterly operating loss of17.96 billion yen ($199 million) for the third quarter, downfrom a 236.22 billion profit for the same three months a yearago, and restated a forecast for its first annual loss in 14years. Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker, reportedan 81 percent fall in quarterly profit on Wednesday andforecast a further slide in annual profit. Nintendo (7974.OS) is expected to prove the exception tothe Japanese corporate earnings rule with its quarterly profitreport.

Its Wii game console and DS handheld device are bighits with families seeking low-budget, stay-at-homeentertainment (Editing by Jan Dahinten) Stocks. Iron Fist” Klitschko will defend his title against Mexican-American Cristobal “Nightmare” Arreola at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Saturday night.? Arreola (27-0, 24 knockouts), who hails from nearby Riverside, Calif., will attempt to become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent in front of a crowd that will inevitably be supporting his every move throughout the night.? “I’m going to make him a pop-culture question,” Arreola, 28, said of Klitschko (37-2, 36 knockouts). “’Who did Cris Arreola beat to become the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion of the world’ I’m honored by this, and it’s not just the opportunity It’s history. It’s hard for me to even describe.”? In order to achieve such a historical feat in the ring, Arreola will have to overcome Klitschko’s three-inch height advantage and the devastating jab combinations that he is known to expertly employ.? Klitschko, 38, the owner of the highest knockout percentage (92) of any heavyweight champion ever, is essentially an undefeated fighter.? The Ukrainian giant lost to former titlists Chris Byrd and Lennox Lewis because of injuries he suffered during their respective matches.? In both bouts, Klitschko was winning on points before the contests were halted due to the wounds that impaired his ability to box.? “Here is a guy who has never been knocked down and never been behind at the end of a fight because his losses were stopped due to injury,” said HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant.? Arreola, the winner of the National Golden Gloves in 2001 as a light-heavyweight, has long been considered a spectacular talent whose heart was not entirely into the sport of pugilism.? “I really didn’t know if boxing was going to be my career,” the heavily-tattooed Arreola recently admitted. “I wasn’t sure about turning pro and once I did, I just took it one fight at a time. But then I started knocking guys out and I gradually started thinking, ‘Hey, maybe I can make some money doing this.’”? If Arreola is able to emerge victorious this weekend, there will be ample opportunities for him to make vast sums of money in the world of prizefighting.? “I’ve said for more than a decade that the next Mike Tyson or Oscar De La Hoya that blows the doors off the economic equation in boxing will be the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion,” said HBO boxing analyst Jim Lampley. Iron Fist” and his jab to ultimately prove to be an unsettling “nightmare” for Arreola.? By Sunday morning, Mexican fight fans will still be left hoping and dreaming for a champion of their own.? ? Boxing-Examiner7Ey2009m9d24-Klitschko-Will-Leave-Mexican-Fight-Fans-Dreaming" target"blank"> http://

DAVOS, Jan 29(Reuters) - Russia's second largest bank, VTB(VTBR.MM) (VTBRq.L), is using forecasts for bad loans of 10percent for planning purposes, Chief Executive Andrei Kostintold Reuters on Thursday. Russia Kostin said non-performing loans totalled about 3.8 percent.He said VTB wanted a capital injection of about 200 billionroubles and that it could take place at the start of the secondhalf of 2009. He said VTB could made an additional issue of preferenceshares as part of the share issue, but said a final decision hadnot been made. State-owned VTB went public in May 2007 in an $8 billion IPOonly weeks before trouble in the U.S subprime market helpedtrigger a global financial crisis. For full coverage, blogs and TV from Davos go to (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Mike Peacock) Russia.