Dubai stocks increased for a third time this week as Dubai World, the state-owned holding company, agreed “in principle” with a group of creditor banks on terms to restructure $23.5 billion of liabilities.

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ largest Islamic bank, and developer Emaar Properties PJSC gained. Arabtec Holding PJSC advanced the most in more than a week after it signed an accord with Dubai World’s Nakheel PJSC. The DFM General Index increased 0.4 percent to 1,691.71, paring the drop for the week to 1.6 percent. Nakheel’s bonds were little changed and the cost of insuring against losses on debt sold by Dubai’s government declined. Oil dropped 1.4 percent to $68.90 a barrel.

Dubai World will pay $4.4 billion of the loans in five years and the remaining $10 billion over eight years, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. Dubai’s government, which pledged $1.5 billion in March for the restructuring, will convert $8.9 billion of its loans to Dubai World into equity.

Bad economic news for Wall Street sometimes means great news for others. Specifically, home buyers, who stand to get a great bargain on mortgage rates as a result of a topsyturvy bond market during the week's wave of fear gripping world markets and routing stocks. To escape stock wipeouts, most investors have been fleeing en masse to the safety of US Treasury securities and the stability they offer despite their weak yields.The exodus sent Treasury prices soaring, while their yields, which have an inverse relationship with prices, sank toward new yearly lows. The yield of the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note, on which home mortgages are based, dived to 3.22 percent -- at one point touching 3.19 percent intraday. At the end of the session, the drop was the biggest single-day decline in the 10-year's yield in 14 months.

（記者王孝夫台北報導）隨著金融風暴已漸平息，國內GDP於去（98）年第四季呈現9.22%的成長，主計處預計今年全年將可達4.72%，且兩岸MOU已簽訂，ECFA亦正積極洽商中，在景氣與整體經營環境明顯改善時刻，為掌握契機展業，臺灣銀行特於3月12、13日假該行陽明山行員訓練所舉行第54次全行行務會議，由董事長張秀蓮、總經理張明道共同主持，並以「掌握發展契機 開拓卓越新局」作為中心議題，並邀請央行彭總裁淮南作專題演講，在與會經理人的積極參與下，會議圓滿，成果豐碩。