France announced a 26-billion-euro (US$35 billion) stimulus plan last December, focusing on investment in infrastructure rather than directly aiding consumers.

The Italian government last November came up with a plan valued at 80 billion euros (US$109 billion), which includes 16.6 billion euros (US$22.6 billion) for infrastructure and 2.4 billion euros (US$3.2 billion) for low-income families.

In Asia, Japan unveiled last December a new 23-trillion-yen (US$256 billion) package to spur its economy, bringing the government's total stimulus spending to more than US$550 billion.

As emerging economies, governments of East European countries approved a series of economic stimulus plans designed to maintain financial stability, create jobs and boost economic recovery.

Elsewhere in Latin America, the Mexican government announced a US$54-billion recovery plan in January, focusing on boosting public spending.

The Brazilian government set aside 100 billion reais (US$44 billion) in credit for local businesses, and put in place a national housing program which entails building 1 million houses by 2010 to shore up the domestic construction sector and create more jobs.

The Argentine government earmarked more than 20 billion dollars for infrastructure, housing and education.

Countries in other parts of the world, developed and developing countries alike, also presented various stimulus plans to boost their economies.

Monetary policy -- rate cuts

Apart from fiscal policy, governments have also made better use of monetary policy -- rate cuts being one of the most frequently used instruments -- in their bid to exert influence on economies.

At its latest policy-making meeting, the US Federal Reserve held its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of between zero to 0.25 percent.

The European Central Bank (ECB) cut its key interest rate earlier this month by a half percentage point to 1.50 percent to counter the economic slowdown in the euro zone. This is the fifth time in six months for the ECB to cut rates, sending the ECB's key rate to a record low.

This came on the heels of a similar move by the Bank of England (BoE), Britain's central bank, which slashed its key rate by 0.50 percentage points to 0.5 percent, also a record low.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet was reportedly reluctant to follow the lead of the Fed and the BoE, fearing the broad rate cuts may trigger a crisis in the future.

Japan's central bank, the Bank of Japan, cut its key interest rate to 0.1 percent last December, shortly after China's central bank slashed the lending and deposit rates by a bigger-than-expected 1.08 percentage points.