NTERNATIONAL. Back from the brink - again.

Byline: Claire Bisseker

INTERNATIONAL Back from the brink again WHAT IT MEANS.

Global activity is decelerating. The key challenge is to end the eurozone crisis Towards the end of last year there were heightened fears that the world was heading for a synchronised downturn: the eurozone debt crisis was intensifying; the US recovery was failing to gain traction; and China's housing bubble looked as if it might burst spectacularly.

Concerns about banking-sector losses and fiscal sustainability pushed the cost of borrowing for many euro area countries to highs not seen since the launch of the union. Bank funding all but dried up in the euro area; growth …