Britain's economy eked out unexpected growth in the second quarter, laying the ground for more interest rate hikes from the Bank of England, but it remained the only big advanced economy yet to regain its pre-COVID, late-2019 level, Reuters reported. Official data on Friday showed the economy grew 0.2% in the second quarter, against the consensus for a flat reading in a Reuters poll of economists. The figures sent the pound sharply higher against the U.S. dollar and euro.

UK homeware discount retailer Wilko has collapsed into administration, a form of creditor protection that could mean a loss of 12,000 jobs, it said Thursday, as the company could not find any saviour to avert its insolvency crisis to keep its 400 stores operational, The News (U.K.) reported. Mark Jackson, said management had "left no stone unturned" in its attempts to save the business. "But must concede that with regret, we've no choice but to take the difficult decision to enter into administration," he said.

The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada slapped sanctions Thursday on Lebanon's embattled former central bank governor and a handful of close relatives and associates over allegations of corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said, the Associated Press reported. Riad Salameh, 73, ended his 30-year tenure on July 31 under a cloud of investigation and blame for his country's historic economic crisis. France, Germany, and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and close associates over alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million.

The French economy should show modest growth in the third quarter as industrial and services activity picked up slightly in July, the central bank said on Wednesday in its monthly business climate report, Reuters reported. "For the third quarter... we expect GDP to show moderate growth compared to the previous quarter," the Bank of France said. It added its latest estimate was broadly in line with its growth forecast released in June, when it said the economy was expected to grow by 0.2% in the third quarter.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday defended the decision to impose a surprise windfall tax on profits at Italy's banks after the government watered down the plan following a market rout, Reuters reported. The economy ministry clarified late on Tuesday that the 40% windfall tax, a one-off measure which targets gains from banks' higher interest rates, would not amount to more than 0.1% of their total assets.

Babylon Health is looking to sell its UK business, including its 100,000 patient NHS GP practice, and may fall into administration, the company has announced, DigitalHealth.net reported. Following the story back in May that shares in Babylon fell sharply on news that the company was being taken private as part of a new debt plan, the firm announced this week that a $34.5m attempt to restructure and return to private ownership fell through. Babylon GP at Hand, an online-first GP practice with over 100,000 registered NHS patients around London, is the firm’s main remaining NHS service.

Britain’s young adults increasingly are priced out of the housing market and are living with their parents later into life after “giving up on property,” Bloomberg News reported. That’s the conclusion of both official figures from the census and a report from the real estate website Zoopla, which dubbed the group “Guppies” in contrast to the aspirational professionals from the 1980s known as “Yuppies.” About 51% of people in England and Wales aged 20 to 24 opted to live with their parents, census data collected in 2021 and released Wednesday showed.

Consumer expectations for euro-area inflation fell in June but remained above the European Central Bank’s 2% target as officials ponder whether to continue their unprecedented bout of interest-rate hikes, Bloomberg News reported. Expectations for the next 12 months declined to 3.4% from 3.9% in May, the ECB said Tuesday in its monthly survey. For three years ahead, they dropped to 2.3% from 2.5%. The results come before a September meeting that President Christine Lagarde has said will decide between a 10th straight increase in the deposit rate and a pause.

Italian bank stocks plunged Tuesday after the Cabinet approved a proposal to apply a 40% tax on some bank profits this year to help consumers and businesses cope with higher borrowing costs, the Associated Press reported. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced the tax at a Monday evening press conference, saying it was a measure of “social equity” to make up for a series of interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank.

Russia's budget deficit for January-July widened to 2.82 trillion roubles ($29.3 billion), or 1.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), the finance ministry said on Tuesday, citing preliminary estimates, Reuters reported. In the first seven months of last year, Russia posted a surplus of 557 billion roubles, but significant outlays to support its war in Ukraine - which Moscow calls a "special military operation" - and a barrage of Western sanctions on its oil and gas exports have hit government coffers since then.