By Ron Harui and Andrew MacAskill
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — The dollar was set to complete its biggest annual decline against the yen in more than two decades on signs the U.S. economy is sinking deeper into recession.

By James Sterngold
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — It has been a year of record misery: the largest bankruptcy, bank failure and Ponzi scheme in U.S. history; $720 billion in writedowns and losses by financial institutions; $30.1 trillion in market valuation wiped out.

By Lukanyo Mnyanda
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — The British pound posted its worst annual performance against the euro on speculation the Bank of England will keep cutting interest rates to revive the recession- mired economy.

By Garfield Reynolds and Candice Zachariahs
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell, capping their biggest annual declines on record, as prices slid for commodities the nations export and investors dumped higher-yielding assets amid a worldwide economic slump.

By Patricia Lui
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s ringgit posted its first annual loss in four years as the global credit crisis hurt the nation’s exports and made foreign investors wary of risk.