Swiss inflation unexpectedly eased — offering reassurance to Swiss National Bank officials who’ve lowered borrowing costs for two straight meetings, Bloomberg reported. Consumer prices rose 1.3% from a year ago in June, the statistics office said Thursday. That’s less than economists estimated and down from May’s 1.4%, which was the fastest clip this year. The slowdown was helped by a 0.2% annual decline in the cost of goods, while services were up 2.4%. Core inflation also moderated to 1.1%, defying expectations for it to quicken.

Governments owe an unprecedented $91 trillion, an amount almost equal to the size of the global economy and one that will ultimately exact a heavy toll on their populations, CNN reported. Debt burdens have grown so large — in part because of the cost of the pandemic — that they now pose a growing threat to living standards even in rich economies, including the U.S. Yet, in a year of elections around the world, politicians are largely ignoring the problem, unwilling to level with voters about the tax increases and spending cuts needed to tackle the deluge of borrowing.

June marked a significant uptick in the number of employees affected by corporate bankruptcies in Sweden, reaching the highest level recorded in the past five years, MENAFN reported. Approximately 1,400 employees were impacted by the bankruptcy of automotive components firm IAC Group Sweden alone, according to data, citing insights from Credit Safe, a leading credit information provider. Overall, the total number of employees affected by company bankruptcies across Sweden in the past month surged to 3,500.

One of the messages that helped propel the far-right National Rally to the brink of power in France’s parliamentary elections on Sunday — a once-unthinkable shift — is a common refrain in U.S. politics: It’s the economy, stupid, the New York Times reported. Both the National Rally and a coalition of left-wing parties called New Popular Front won large gains in part by tapping into anger over a cost-of-living crisis and a sense that President Emmanuel Macron had grown out of touch and did not understand their struggles.

The World Bank and other top development banks got a double boost on Tuesday as Fitch said debt payment freezes for climate-disaster hit countries would not hit the banks' credit rating and it would no longer cap ratings on new 'hybrid' bonds, Reuters reported. The World Bank and some other lenders started inserting Climate Resilient Debt Clauses (CRDC) last year that allow vulnerable low income countries to defer their repayments for up to two years if they are hit by a severe hurricane, flood or other type of catastrophe.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada in June joined the ranks of big central banks easing policy, while emerging markets ploughed ahead in their quest to lower interest rates, Reuters reported. Three of the nine central banks overseeing the 10 most heavily traded currencies that held meetings in June reduced their lending benchmarks, with Switzerland delivering its second rate cut in this cycle.

Norwegian oil and gas rig operator Dolphin Drilling ASA said it would file for bankruptcy on Wednesday after failing to reach a deal with creditors, falling victim to a prolonged downturn in the oil services sector, Reuters reported. Formerly known as Fred. Olsen Energy, Dolphin had debt of just over $1 billion at the end of 2018 and a net loss for the year of almost $300 million, according to its annual report.

Dutch football club Vitesse moved closer to bankruptcy on Monday with the announcement that their likely financial savior, investor Guus Franke, has pulled out of talks to rescue the club, the Telegraaf, the NL Times reported. The club had until the end of Monday to submit its supporting material to the KNVB to appeal the Dutch football association's decision to withdraw Vitesse's professional license. Vitesse said it had found an ideal partner in Franke, the founder of international private equity firm Axiom Partners.

Following the elections for EU Parliament, European Union leaders have agreed on the officials who will hold the key positions in the world’s biggest trading bloc in the coming years for issues ranging from antitrust investigations to foreign policy, the Associated Press reported. The three nominees will lead the EU’s powerful executive branch — the European Commission — and the forum where the 27 member countries are represented, the European Council, with the final nominee being the bloc’s top diplomat.

Family doctor center Co-Med will file for bankruptcy this week, the attorney for the chain of general practitioner offices confirmed, the NL Times reported. Co-Med has been in dire straits for some time, and health insurers recently canceled their contracts with the chain, partly because their doctors have not been available to provide healthcare for the chain's patients. Attorney Georges van Zeijl has only been involved in the case for a short time, but said he has "noted with some surprise" the speed with which Co-Med has been "pushed to the abyss" in recent weeks, he said.