Global Watch

Inflation in the developed world rose to its highest level in seven years in May 2001. The measure of average inflation calculated by International Monetary Fund is expected rise to 2.8 per cent , the highest since the end of 1993 .An acceleration of price rises in US and Europe is believed to driven global inflation to this latest peak.

Japan's trade surplus declined sharply to Y80 bn in May from Y575 bn in the corresponding period last year. The fall in the surplus is attributed to declining exports and cheaper imports. According to some economists , Japan could even post a trade deficit in the coming months.

P& G is likely to post a loss in the coming quarter due to another round of restructuring .Three months later after it announced $ 1.4 bn programme of job cuts , the company is likely to incur an additional $900 mn in charges for discontinuing underperforming brands and cutting back assets in developing markets.

Arthur Anderson one of the "Big Five" professional services firms has agreed to pay a $ 7 million to settle allegations that the firm had issued false and misleading audit reports that increased a company's earnings by more than $ 1 billion.

Oracle , the worlds second largest software firm narrowly beat analyst earnings estimates for its fourth quarter .The company reported earnings per share of 15 cents as against analyst consensus estimat-es of 14 cents . Revenues, however was do-wn from $ 3.36 bln last year to $ 3.26 bln .

Chrysler, the lossmaking US arm of DiamlerChrysler plans to reduce its capital expenditure by 40 per cent or $ 18 billion. The company's average investment budget is likely to come down from $ 9.5 billion to $ 6 billion.