With Russia officially entering recession, Bank of America and other international companies making more mass layoffs and European production falling faster than expected, the grim data built up around the world.

To battle what he called a once-in-a-century recession, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso announced a new 23 trillion yen (255 billion dollars) injection that will take government revival efforts to more than 550 billion dollars since October.

Aso said the new stimulus would include 10 trillion yen in fiscal measures, including tax cuts for homeowners, and another 13 trillion yen in financial support such as loan guarantees for struggling businesses.

"This is a great global recession which comes once in 100 years. Japan alone cannot stay out of this tsunami," Aso said. "But by taking appropriate measures without any delay, we can minimise the impact."

In Washington, talks among US senators on salvaging a 14 billion dollar fund for General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler collapsed late Thursday. GM has hired lawyers for a potential bankruptcy filing.

The deal passed the House of Representatives this week but faced stiff opposition from Republican senators who demanded that wages paid by the US firms be brought into line with those at foreign firms with non-union plants.

The plan would provide GM and Chrysler loans to operate until March 31 and force them to craft major restructuring plans that include paying back the government aid. Ford says it faces no immediate credit crisis.

President George W. Bush and president-elect Barack Obama both warned that the US economy could not afford more sweeping job losses.

"We cannot simply stand by and watch this industry collapse. Doing so would lead to a devastating ripple effect throughout our economy," Obama said.

Asian and European stocks went into freefall on the news, with Wall Street, which lost 2.24 percent on Thursday, also expected to see heavy losses.

Tokyo's Nikkei index ended down 5.6 percent -- with Toyota Motor Corp. off 10 percent -- and Hong Kong 5.5 percent. In morning European trade, London dived 3.32 percent, Frankfurt tumbled 4.26 percent and Paris plunged more than 5.0 percent.

The dollar tumbled below the key 90 yen level for the first time since 1995 and also fell against the euro because of the auto talks collapse. Oil fell back to about 47 dollars a barrel. The British pound also hit a record low of 1.12 euros as concerns grow over the outlook for Britain's economy.

European Union leaders, at a summit in Brussels, were expected to commit to fighting off the "recessionary spiral" with a stimulus package worth 200 billion euros (260 billion dollars).

"In these exceptional circumstances, Europe will act in a united, strong, rapid and decisive manner to avoid a recessionary spiral and sustain economic activity and employment," said a draft summit statement obtained by AFP.

Under the stimulus plan, member countries would pump on average the equivalent of 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) into their economies in order to temper the impact of a global recession.

Layoffs at Bank of America were the latest to reinforce the fears of government leaders everywhere. US banking giant Citigroup last month said it was cutting a near-record 50,000 jobs worldwide.

Telecoms equipment giant Alcatel Lucent said it would cut 1,000 managerial jobs and Japan's Sharp Corp. said it was cutting 380 domestic jobs, days after Sony Corp. said it was slashing more than 8,000 regular jobs and the same number of temporary or contract posts.

The Russian government confirmed that the country has officially entered a recession and Moody's Investors Service cut the outlook on Russia's key ratings to "stable" from "positive" because of liquidity pressures from the global financial crisis.

The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea were due to hold their own rare three-way summit Saturday on the financial crisis.

On the eve of the meeting, South Korea -- whose won currency has come under severe pressure -- announced currency swaps totalling almost 45 billion dollars with China and Japan.

burs/lth/bmm

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