German inflation eased for a third month in March, supporting expectations that the European Central Bank will start lowering interest rates in June, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose an annual 2.3% last month, according to the statistics office — down from 2.7% in February and less than the 2.4% median estimate in a Bloomberg poll of economists. Food costs were a key driver of the slowdown. The data come after France also reported a slowdown on Friday.

Emergency financial help is now needed to avoid effective bankruptcy, leaders at Middlesbrough Council have been told, msn.com reported. In a stark warning to the Executive, a report said a request for exceptional financial support must be made to the Government this month. If they choose not to approve the move at a meeting next week, or a financial life raft is insufficient, a section 114 notice will be issued. All councils are legally required to ensure the budget is balanced by March, and expenditure is not more than income.

Phil Vickery, who won the Rugby World Cup with England in 2003, has reportedly been declared bankrupt with huge debts, the Mirror reported. Former Prop Vickery played in all seven games in Australia as England lifted their only William Webb Ellis Trophy in their history. After coming through the ranks at Gloucester, Vickery joined Wasps in 2006. He enjoyed a highly-successful time with the now defunct team, winning the Heineken Cup in 2007 and the Premiership in 2008.

French inflation eased below 3% for the first time in 2 1/2 years and Italy reported a lower-than-expected reading, confirming a trend that has tipped the European Central Bank toward cutting interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices in France, the euro area’s second-largest economy, rose 2.4% from a year earlier in March after a 3.2% gain the previous month, statistics agency Insee said. The slowdown was sharper than the 2.8% forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. In Italy, the bloc’s third-largest economy, inflation had already fallen below 2% in October.

German retail sales were significantly weaker than forecast, symbolizing the woes in the sector as consumer confidence remains sluggish, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales were down 1.9% on month in February, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, a fourth month of declining sales, data from German statistics agency Destatis showed Thursday. Economists had, instead, expected sales to rise 0.5%, according to a poll by the Wall Street Journal. Sales were 2.7% below the same level of last year.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to start off with a "moderate" interest rate cut this spring, which should come independently of the U.S. Federal Reserve's timeframe, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday, Reuters reported. A growing number of ECB policymakers have supported rate reductions, with a June meeting shaping up as the most likely time for action, although there is also a meeting in April. Villeroy said at a speech at Paris Dauphine University that it was not of "existential importance" whether or not this cut occurred in April or in June.