A top International Monetary Fund official said Thursday that the crisis lender is still ready to support Egypt after Cairo withdrew its $3 billion loan request last week.

Ratna Sahay, the Fund's deputy Middle East director, rejected accusations that the planned facility had politically tough secret conditions to force privatizations and end subsidies.

World oil prices slid on Thursday on profit-taking after soaring the previous day on easing concerns over Greece and signs of strengthening energy demand in the United States.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August sank $1.01 to $111.39 in early London trade, having rocketed by $3.62 the previous day.

Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn Wednesday said he received 982 million yen compensation in the year ended March, making him the highest paid foreign executive in Japan.

The amount, which includes salary and stock options, is equivalent to around $12 million at current exchange rates and was disclosed at Nissan's annual general meeting of shareholders.

Kuwait's parliament on Wednesday passed a deficit budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year projecting the highest spending in the OPEC member's history amid warnings the country's future is at risk.

Thirty-nine MPs voted for the budget while 20 were opposed.

France's Christine Lagarde was named Tuesday as the first-ever female chief of the IMF, faced with an immediate crisis as violent Greek protests rocked the stability of the eurozone.

The French finance minister, respected for her leadership during the financial crises that have rocked Europe over the past three years, was chosen to replace countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned abruptly on May 18 after being arrested in New York for an alleged sexual assault.

European Union economic affairs chief Olli Rehn pressed the Greek parliament on Tuesday to adopt a tough austerity program, saying it was the "only way to avoid immediate default."

"This week Greece faces a critical juncture. Both the future of the country and financial stability in Europe are at stake," Rehn said in a statement.

Afghanistan's central bank governor has resigned and fled to the United States, saying his life is in danger over a corruption probe targeting influential figures connected to the government.

President Hamid Karzai's government on Tuesday dismissed the claims of Abdul Qadir Fitrat, chairman of Da Afghanistan Bank, insisting his life was not under threat and calling him a "runaway governor".

Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) has given the green light for two long-stalled oil mega projects worth more than eight billion dinars ($29 billion), a Kuwaiti daily reported on Tuesday.

Citing unidentified oil sources, the Al-Jarida newspaper said the SPC approved the building of a new state-of-the-art refinery and the upgrading of two of three existing refineries to raise output and produce cleaner products.

Arab bankers painted a sobering picture of the economic results of political upheaval in their region at a conference in Rome, saying tourism has plunged and capital flight is on the rise.

Capital flight is running into the hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) per week and budget stability is under pressure as governments are forced to increase subsidies and salaries to keep social stability, they said.

Egypt has withdrawn its loan request to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, an adviser to Finance Minister Samir Radwan told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

"We have decided not to have recourse to loans from the international financial institutions," Abdelfattah al-Gebali said.