Inflation slowed less than expected in Germany and quickened in Spain, offering European Central Bank officials a partial picture of the region’s price pressures as they judge whether to raise interest rates again, Bloomberg News reported. The numbers published Wednesday point to the possibility of a robust outcome when the euro-zone report is released the following day — data policymakers have highlighted as crucial to their Sept. 14 decision. Consumer prices in Germany, the region’s biggest economy, rose 6.4% in August from a year earlier.

Britain’s broad money supply has stopped growing for the first time in at least 13 years, a reading that will deepen concerns among monetarists urging the Bank of England to show restraint in its battle against inflation, Bloomberg News reported. Economists who predicted the surge in inflation during the pandemic after seeing money-supply growth rocket are now worried that the UK is in danger of recession and deflation.

The government of Austria presented a series of measures Wednesday to counter the impact of inflation, including a three-year cap on rent increases for many apartments and a freeze on fees to use highways, the Associated Press reported. The package foresees a 5% cap on annual rent increases in 2024-2026 even if inflation is higher than that. According to the government, the cap will prevent hikes of some 15% next year in some public housing.

The CEO of French retailer Carrefour on Tuesday urged the government to delay a law putting a cap on promotions retailers can offer, warning that consumers have made massive cuts to spending on essential goods owing to high prices, Reuters reported. Carrefour Chairman and Chief Executive Alexandre Bompard, who is among French retail executives due to meet Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Wednesday to discuss cost of living issues, said he would ask for "a one-year moratorium on the application of the Descrozaille law" that limits promotions on beauty, hygiene and care products.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reevaluating its Russian business, including the possibility of a full withdrawal from a once-important market that has turned into a headache, the Wall Street Journal reported. Last week, the Journal reported that Binance was helping Russians move money abroad—despite the company last year saying that it had stopped working in the country, was implementing Western sanctions requirements and had restricted trading on its platform in Russia.

Two decades ago, Germany revived its moribund economy and became a manufacturing powerhouse of an era of globalization. Times changed. Germany didn’t keep up. Now Europe’s biggest economy has to reinvent itself again. But its fractured political class is struggling to find answers to a dizzying conjunction of long-term headaches and short-term crises, leading to a growing sense of malaise, the Wall Street Journal reported. Germany will be the world’s only major economy to contract in 2023, with even sanctioned Russia experiencing growth, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Nearly a third of councils in poor areas in the United Kingdom are considering bankruptcy as they run out of money, the Mirror reported. A survey of 47 local authorities found five are currently in the process of deciding whether to declare they cannot balance their books this year. The councils are thinking about issuing what is known as a Section 114 notice, which would freeze all non-essential spending. A further nine local authorities said they might have to declare bankruptcy next year.

Germany's rail workers will not go on open-ended strikes after less than 50% of union members voted in favor, German news agency dpa reported Monday. A vote of 75% in favor would have been necessary for all-out strike action, the Associated Press reported. A majority of workers also voted in favor of a recommendation that emerged from arbitration between EVG and the rail operator, Deutsche Bahn. The compromise deal includes a pay increase of 410 euros ($443) per month in two stages over a period of 25 months.

Switzerland's Competition Commission is looking into UBS's takeover of Credit Suisse, the authority said on Monday, Reuters reported. In March, the Swiss government, central bank and financial regulator rushed through a rescue deal for Credit Suisse, resulting in the country's two largest banks merging. "We confirm that the Swiss Competition Commission is looking at the takeover of CS by UBS and will send FINMA her results probably by the end of September," the Commission's vice-director told Reuters.

Germany's economy stagnated in the second quarter from the previous three months, showing no sign of recovery from a winter recession and cementing its position as one of the world's weakest major economies, Reuters reported. The figure of zero growth for the second quarter was in line with a first estimate published in late July. Year on year, adjusted GDP contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter. Quarter on quarter, economic activity had fallen by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023.