1.   Already, German retailers say, the austerity drive has dampened consumer spending.

2.   A cash-strapped government, he said, would stick to its austerity drive.

3.   All state-owned companies have seen their budgets slashed as the result of the latest austerity drive.

4.   But the Korean government tacitly supports the austerity drive and in some cases actively encourages it.

5.   Domestic demand has yet to pick up after a wrenching two-year austerity drive that ended last year after officials successfully quelled inflation.

6.   It clamped down on credit and cut state subsidies as part of an anti-inflation austerity drive.

7.   Taida said video sales in China fell almost by half as an austerity drive in the country cuts personal spending.

8.   The downdraft is continuing, led by Japan, which has cut aid as part of a broader budget austerity drive.

9.   Proper maintenance, for example of office equipment, is a key element of the austerity drive, Abdullah said.

10.   Already the austerity drives being undertaken by Asian economies have been translated into reduced exports by the industrial economies to this part of the world.