Kuwait on Wednesday accused oil-producing countries that had urged OPEC to cut its output, in a bid to curb sliding prices, of doing the opposite by pumping more crude.

Oil Minister Ali al-Omair defended the oil cartel's decision last week to maintain production levels, insisting that member states want to keep their market share.

The Palestinian Authority lost at least $310 million in customs and sales tax in 2011 as a result of importing from or through Israel, the UN said Wednesday, urging a radical change to the system.

The lost revenue, worth 250 million euros, was equivalent to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product and 18 percent of the tax revenue of the authority, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.

The ruble turned back down on Wednesday, reaching new record lows against the dollar and the euro as trading began, before recovering slightly.

At 0803 GMT the Russian currency was 54.82 to the dollar and 67.82 to the euro.

France's finance minister said Wednesday that the French public deficit would be "well below" EU limits by 2017, as he trimmed his deficit forecasts for next year.

Michel Sapin said that "new measures" announced in October would push France's 2015 deficit down to 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, compared with the 4.3 percent previously feared.

India on Wednesday announced a move to speed up approval for U.S. investments, just weeks after the two countries settled a global trade dispute and President Barack Obama agreed to visit.

A new Indian government committee will "identify bottlenecks" faced by U.S. firms wanting to invest in the country, where foreign companies must contend with byzantine regulations and large amounts of red tape.

Australian energy firms are having to reassess their investment strategies and outlook as oil prices sit at multi-year lows, with analysts warning of knock-on effects for the wider economy as it shifts away from resources-driven growth.

OPEC's decision to maintain output sent the price of oil plunging last week, extending a sell-off since June that has been fuelled by a supply glut and slow demand growth.

Indonesia is set to lead a boom in online shopping across Southeast Asia as Internet access explodes and investors pour money into a rapidly growing host of retail startups, analysts say. 

Much like China several years ago, the region is enjoying a rapid increase in web access that observers say is starting to drive a fundamental shift in shopping habits among the emerging middle class.

U.S. car manufacturers remain barred from doing business in Iran even though European automakers are eying huge deals as sanctions are eased against the Islamic republic, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen was in "intense" talks about resuming production in Iran, halted since March 2012, a company representative said in Tehran on Monday at the start of the Iran Auto Show.

The Russian economy ministry on Tuesday slashed its economic forecast for 2015, announcing a contraction of 0.8 percent due to the pressure of Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis combined with falling oil prices.

The ministry cut its previous outlook of 1.2 percent growth by two percentage points, referring to worsening economic indicators and a "more conservative" assumption that Western sanctions will remain through 2015.

Iraq's government and the autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday announced an agreement on resolving their longstanding disputes over the budget and oil exports, boosting prospects of closer cooperation against jihadists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said the deal was approved during a cabinet meeting also attended by Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.