A barrage of strikes hit Greece on Wednesday as the government struggled to finalize a new austerity package with international creditors and sought to jumpstart a privatization drive delayed for months.

Teachers, hospital doctors and municipal staff kicked off separate protests against planned cutbacks and job losses as civil servants and security staff prepared to demonstrate later in the day.

Bailed out Portugal won a precious reprieve from its creditors Tuesday, a day before a crucial court decision in Germany that could bring a painful end to a summertime lull in the eurozone debt crisis.

The EU and IMF agreed to relax Portugal's deficit targets for 2012 and 2013, rewarding the Portuguese for pushing through reforms and drawing a marked contrast with the little patience shown by creditors to Greece.

Moody's warned Tuesday it could strip the United States of its coveted triple-A credit rating if Congress fails to produce a budget that will bring down the federal debt burden.

"Budget negotiations during the 2013 Congressional legislative session will likely determine the direction of the U.S. government's Aaa rating and negative outlook," the ratings firm said in a statement

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen Monday backed Spain in its "unfair" financial crisis and said he would not pressure it to seek a full sovereign bailout.

Katainen, addressing a Madrid economic forum before meeting with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, said he did not like to speculate about a Spanish bailout.

Qatar Holding, a major shareholder of mining group Xstrata, said Tuesday it has made no decision yet on whether to accept Glencore International's latest offer to salvage a multibillion-dollar merger bid for the Anglo-Swiss company.

The brief comments suggest Qatar Holding is at least considering Glencore's latest offer. The government-run investment firm is Xstrata's second-largest shareholder. It had pushed for better terms for Xstrata, and its opposition to the original bid threatened to scuttle the entire deal.

Moody's on Tuesday held its negative outlook for the British banking sector, citing the weak economy, higher regulatory costs and exposure to the Eurozone debt crisis.

"The outlook for the UK banking system remains negative," Moody's Investors Service said in a new report on the sector.

The U.S. Treasury said Monday that the sale of $18 billion worth of stock in AIG will mean that the taxpayer funds used to bail out the insurance giant in 2008 have been "fully recovered."

The Treasury also provided additional details about the sale, first announced Sunday, specifying that it would sell some 553 million shares for $32.50 each, with AIG set to buy back some 153 million for $5 billion.

A Palestinian request for talks on amending the Paris Protocol governing economic ties with Israel in a bid to address social unrest in the West Bank is "not serious," an Israeli official said on Monday.

Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh told Agence France Presse on Sunday he had made a formal request to the Israeli government through the defence ministry for talks on changing the 1994 agreement.

Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi said on Monday the high price of crude was not justified by market fundamentals, stressing that supply and demand are balanced.

"Saudi Arabia is concerned about rising oil prices in the international oil market. The current high price of oil is simply not supported by market fundamentals," he said in a statement.

South Korea on Monday unveiled new stimulus measures worth $5.2 billion to boost domestic demand as its export-driven economy struggles with the global economic downturn.

The finance ministry said it would push for fiscal support worth 5.9-trillion-won ($5.23 billion) -- 4.6 trillion won for the remainder of this year and 1.3 trillion won for next year.