Investors will forgive 53.5 per cent of their principal and exchange their remaining holdings for new Greek government bonds and notes from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the International Institute of Finance said in an emailed statement yesterday, following a final round of talks overnight. The new bonds will have a two per cent coupon for the first two years and a four per cent coupon after that.

Greece’s government said separately it will introduce legislation to Parliament for so-called collective action clauses that will allow it to enforce losses on bondholders that refuse to take up the offer.

The agreement will reduce Greece’s debt burden by ¤107 billion (Dh520.1 billion), about half the country’s estimated gross domestic product for 2011, the IIF said. Greece’s debt was forecast to balloon to almost double the size of its shrinking economy this year without the write-off, the European Commission said in November. The swap, tied to a ¤130 billion second bailout agreement for Greece, is meant to help reduce its debt to 120.5 per cent of GDP by 2020.

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Host Audie Cornish talks with Don Gonyea about the week ahead in politics, including the contests in Michigan and Arizona.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the surplus followed a fall in local government borrowing and a rise in tax receipts.

It said the public sector made a net repayment – excluding financial interventions – of £7.75bn, up from £5.2bn a year ago.

January's finances are often in surplus because of a spike in tax receipts.

The government has borrowed £93.5bn in the tax year to date, down from £109.14bn in 2010/11,

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said the figures meant the government was on track to meet or even beat its borrowing target of no more than £127bn this year.

"With two months to go, that target looks easily attainable," he said.

"The target would still be met even if the deficit in February and March matched the recent record of £29bn seen for these two months in 2010."

In the year 2010-11, the government borrowed £136bn.

The UK's total public sector net debt, excluding financial sector interventions, fell back to £988.7bn, or 63% of gross domestic product, having breached £1tn in December.

The level of government borrowing is one of the data series looked at by ratings agencies, which judge the likelihood of a borrower defaulting, something that can affect the cost of borrowing.

Last week, the ratings agency Moody's warned that Britain could lose its top, triple-A credit rating in the next 18 months.

Ross Walker, economist at RBS, said these borrowing figures could weigh positively on Moody's continuing assessment: "It's a good set of data. We are still borrowing huge sums, but against a backdrop where we had Moody's negative outlook and there was growing talk about the UK's rating… these numbers help."

Despite the improved borrowing figures, the UK economy remains on shaky ground.

Official data on Friday is expected to confirm the economy shrank by 0.2% in the final three months of 2011, and the Bank of England last week said it expected the economy to "zigzag" in and out of growth this year.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, will deliver his annual Budget next month.

The chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, David Kern, said the January borrowing figures gave him scope to help the economy grow.

"This gives the chancellor some room for flexibility in his upcoming Budget to implement measures to support growth and help companies create jobs, invest and export," he said.

"This should include an effective credit easing programme and an aggressive reduction in red tape."

Policy easing by China and hopes for a Greek bailout also buoyed prices.

Brent crude was trading $1.12 higher at $120.70 a barrel by 1105 GMT, having hit a session high of $121.15 earlier. The level was the highest since mid-June last year.

In euro terms, Brent crude is nearing its record high hit in summer 2008.

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Alfardan Premier Motors Co., the exclusive importer of Land Rover and the distributor of Jaguar in Qatar, was recognized for its luxurious contribution to the international Sports tournament Qatar Total Open 2012 for the second year in row. Alfardan Premier Motors provided 40 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles that served to transport the league of stars and team adding glamour, style and first-class quality experience to their ride throughout the tournament. 

The Qatar Total Open 2012 was launched on the 13th of February at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex with a star-studded line-up of globally famed female Tennis players who showcased their unparalleled talents. The tournament was crowned with a grand finale on the 19th of February where the tournament’s Champion Victoria Azarenka was rewarded a prize of $ 385,000. 

Mr. Rabih Ataya, General Manager of Alfardan Premier Motors, said: “We’re very delighted to have been part of this world class event and to have contributed in delivering quality, luxury and prestige to the doorstep of every player and staff member of the tournament. The partnership of Tennis and coveted automotive brands is truly symbiotic. Our iconic Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles were deemed as the perfect partners to shape the 5-star image of this high class worldwide sporting. We will continue to support sports talents, events and happenings of a global scale as we believe in Doha’s vision of becoming the world’s new international hub for world-class sports events.”

The organisation, Maendeleo Ya Wanaume, wants Kenyan men to stop eating meals cooked at home by wives and partners.

It says men should instead eat together outside the home, and share experiences of emotional and physical abuse.

Kenya's government does not take domestic violence against men seriously and may be fuelling it, the group says.

Maendeleo Ya Wanaume's leader Ndiritu Njoka told the BBC's Network Africa programme that he called for the nationwide boycott to try to stop women beating up or emotionally abusing their husbands and spouses.

Correspondents say most meals in Kenyan homes are cooked by women – and culturally it is important for men to eat at home in order to show their appreciation for women.

Maendeleo Ya Wanaume – which means Development for Men – was set up to try to encourage men to speak out in a society that often ridicules as weak, men who are subjected to domestic violence.

The group says the problem is growing as Kenyan women become more economically independent – in part, it says, because of government initiatives to improve the status of women.

Last year, the group conducted its own survey of Central and Nairobi provinces and found that up to 460,000 men said they had been subjected to some sort of domestic abuse.

These figures have not been independently confirmed.

The two provinces have a combined population of more than seven million people.

USA – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is up in arms over the Obama administration’s proposed rule on insurance coverage for contraceptives. It says religiously affiliated organizations, like Catholic hospitals and universities, shouldn’t have to comply. (Click here for the full statement.)

The rule was issued under the health reform law, which requires full coverage for preventive health care. It classifies contraceptives as a form of prevention.

Last week, the Obama administration offered a compromise. Under the plan, religiously affiliated organizations can exclude contraceptive coverage for their employees, but their insurers must provide it to the employees directly. For employees of actual houses of worship, coverage can be excluded entirely. But the bishops were unmoved.

Who supports the Obama administration in this dispute?

The Catholic Health Association for one. It is among the administration’s more vehement backers.

The association, which represents more than 600 Catholic hospitals and health systems nationwide, praised the Obama compromise. It said the proposed rule “protects religious liberty and the conscience rights of Catholic institutions.” (Click here for the full statement.)

Another backer is the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization of nuns that represents 90 percent of Catholic women in religious orders in the United States. That group declared, “We believe the resolution the president made is a fair and helpful way for us to move forward.”

A third is the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities, which announced, “We commend that Obama Administration for its willingness to work with us on moving toward a solution” on the coverage issue.

Contraceptive coverage also enjoys the support of a majority of American Catholics. A poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 58 percent believe the government should require all employers to include contraceptives in their health plans at no cost. That’s an even higher level of support than in the overall population, where it stands at 55 percent. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll produced similar results.

This public support may be the reason that mandated contraceptive coverage is already the rule in much of the country. Twenty-eight states require it, and eight of them have no exception for religious organizations. In these eight states, the Obama compromise actually grants religious institutions more leeway than they had before.

Obama based his rule on Hawaii’s approach, which has been in place for over a decade. (Click here for the text of the Hawaii law.)

Coverage for contraceptives would be a sensitive issue no matter what the administration proposed. There is no resolution that is going to fully please everyone.

However, the issue is hardly new. And it does not neatly divide supporters of coverage from supporters of religion. As the recent statements reveal, many of the religious institutions most directly affected find Obama’s compromise to be quite reasonable.

The least productive approach is to use the issue to further polarize the public. Opponents have called the rule an unprecedented affront to religion. If that is what they truly believe, why have they been silent about the states where a stricter rule is already in place?

The public is best served when divisive issues drive politicians to seek constructive compromise, not ever more heated rhetoric.