Feb 1 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's consumer price inflation was steady at 0.3 percent on a month-on-month basis in January, unchanged from December, the State Statistics Agency said on Wednesday.

Banks reported the greatest increase in demand for loans from small companies since 2005, the according to the Federal Reserve's survey of senior loan officers out today.

Japan faces a significant population crisis over the next century, said the Japanese Health, Labour and Welfare ministry on Monday, after government forecasts estimated that the population would shrink by nearly a third of its current size by 2060.

More emerging market companies are likely to default as the world economy slows and Western banks rein in lending, a risk that is unnerving investors who were snapping up their debt just a year ago.

Fact or Fiction Number 1 - The Booming Economy: Obama's Jobs Story.

The International Monetary Fund Tuesday trimmed its global growth estimates for the year to 3.3%, but warned the euro-zone debt crisis could lop roughly two percentage points off worldwide output if euro-zone leaders don't act soon.

General Motors Co. sold 9.03 million vehicles worldwide last year, the company said on its website.

IEA cites slowing global economy and foresees further drop.

Drop of $20.5bn first fall in more than a decade.

US food regulator to block tainted Brazilian imports.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's decision to fire his son-in-law for mishandling an oil workers' strike is a signal to would-be successors that the veteran leader is not ready to relinquish his firm grip on power in the Central Asian state.

Weakening economies and falling prices of rival smartphones are hurting sales of Apple iPhones across Europe, data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed on Thursday.

On Monday, eurozone ministers collectively agreed to the IMF's firepower by 150 billion euros ($195 billion).

We've heard both sides of the debate of how China's economy will land.

From investment bankers to internet entrepreneurs, the FT's Moscow correspondents offer an insiders' guide to the country's movers and shakers.