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Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Sunday that the government will have to reduce spending on social security, health and education to meet its bailout conditions after the constitutional court ruled against some of the austerity measures announced in the budget. New spending reduction plans are crucial for the country to retain the access to its EUR 78 billion EU-IMF aid.

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Russia has decided to restructure a EUR 2.5 billion loan it granted to Cyprus in 2011 at the request of the European Commission, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. "At the request of the European Commission, we have decided to restructure this debt," Putin told reporters after holding talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hannover.

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Germany's industrial production rose more-than-expected in February, helped by an increase in manufacturing output, underpinning hopes that the biggest euro area economy is on the recovery path after shrinking in the final months of 2012, latest data showed on Monday.

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Chinese inflation eased sharply in March after climbing to a ten-month high in February, as seasonal increases in food prices receded, the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Tuesday. The consumer price index rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in March, slower than the 3.2 percent rise in February. Economists expected the rate of inflation to ease to 2.5 percent.

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China is on Tuesday scheduled to release March figures for consumer and producer prices, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

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German exports contracted at a faster-than-expected pace in February as deep recession in the euro area weighed on demand for goods from the largest economy in the bloc. Exports of goods declined a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent month-on-month to EUR 90.4 billion in February, after rising 1.3 percent in January, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday.

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The Asian Development Bank said Tuesday that growth in Developing Asia will likely rebound this year, driven by growing private consumption and intra-regional trade, but warned the recovery faces considerable risks from economic developments in the US and Europe. ADB expects the region to grow by 6.6 percent in 2013.

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Wholesale inventories in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, although the report also showed a notable rebound by wholesale sales. The report showed that wholesale inventories dipped by 0.3 percent in February following a downwardly revised 0.8 percent increase in January.

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U.K. industrial production recovered at a faster-than-expected pace in February, reducing prospects of a triple-dip recession in the first quarter, but the modest improvement in the sluggish economy was countered by a widening trade deficit during the same month. Industrial output grew 1 percent in February from a month ago, when it was down 1.3 percent, the Office for National Statistics said.

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Australia consumer confidence declined sharply as respondents were concerned about the risk associated with Cyprus banking crisis and prospects of rising interest rates in the domestic economy.

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