Emerging economies plea for end to US rates agony

PARIS: Some of the world’s biggest emerging economies are pleading for the United States to end their drawn-out agony and raise interest rates now.

Already hit by a commodities crash sparked by the slowing of China’s once-booming economy, the mere prospect of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates -- perhaps as soon as Thursday -- has battered the emerging giants that were once the world’s top performers.