The European Union is determined to scrap the draconian fiscal rules of the past blamed for choking economies in the aftermath of the previous financial crisis despite Germany’s call for strict limits to reduce public expenditure, Bloomberg News reported. “Clearly we are not getting back to the 1/20th rule” that forced member states to implement severe adjustments to their public debt levels, European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview Friday the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington.

Ukraine secured promises of $5 billion in additional funding to support its ongoing fight against Russia amid "fruitful meetings" in Washington this week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told reporters on Friday, Reuters reported. Shmyhal met with representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank as well as top U.S. officials, on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

Italy on Thursday pledged Tunisia a host of investments and help negotiating an International Monetary Fund bailout as the European nation seeks to stem the number of migrants arriving from North Africa, the Associated Press reported. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani outlined Italy’s efforts and pledges during a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar, who insisted that Tunisia has seen growing numbers of African migrants arriving from the Libyan border and needs economic help.

Switzerland's parliament rejected on Wednesday the government's 109 billion Swiss francs ($120.82 billion) aid for Credit Suisse's merger with UBS, leaving the fallen bank's hastily arranged rescue without a largely symbolic parliamentary blessing, Reuters reported. While the upper house had approved the government's contribution to the rescue package, parliament's lower, and larger chamber, pushed back again on Wednesday. It had already rejected the proposals in a late night session on Tuesday, forcing the upper house to find a solution when it met again on Wednesday.

Legal and professional services firm Ince Group Plc plans to enter administration and pursue a sale of the company, it said on Wednesday, amid cash concerns and repeated delays in reporting its financial results, Reuters reported. Ince's directors applied to London's High Court on Wednesday to appoint administrators under UK insolvency law in relation to the company and four subsidiaries, court filings show. Trading in Ince on London's Alternative Investment Market was suspended from Jan. 3 following delays in publishing the company's annual report for the year ending Mar. 31, 2022.

Switzerland’s lower house made a second symbolic vote against providing state guarantees for UBS Group AG’s takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG, reflecting a high degree of public discontent with the deal, Bloomberg News reported. The lower house voted against a compromise offered by the upper house, leading to a failure of the bill and ending parliamentary proceedings. Irrespective of the vote, parliament can’t stop the takeover negotiated last month. Lawmakers on Wednesday couldn’t agree on what restrictions should be imposed on large banks after the historic government-brokered takeover.

The French economy is set to grow around 0.2% in the first quarter of 2023, up from around 0.1% forecast last month, the central bank said on Tuesday, as activity in three main sectors picked up steam, Reuters reported. The Bank of France said companies polled in its monthly business sentiment survey reported activity in March was stronger than in February in the industrial sector, as well as in services and in construction. The improving sentiment comes despite widespread strikes against pension reform that have weighed on transport and energy.

The World Bank on Wednesday said it would finance $200 million to help fix Ukraine's energy and heating infrastructure, with partners and others to provide another $300 million in additional funding as the project expands, Reuters reported. The $200 million grant will be used to make emergency repairs to Ukraine's transition transformers, mobile heat boilers and other emergency critical equipment, the World Bank said in a statement. Read more.

Swiss lawmakers blamed the government, regulators and the management for failures around the takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG last month, setting the stage for an election year in which thousands of jobs are at stake, Bloomberg News reported. Though the legislative doesn’t have the power to derail the takeover, the extraordinary parliamentary meeting scheduled for three days starting Tuesday, is forcing the government into continued defense of its actions during the unpopular emergency takeover by UBS Group AG announced on March 19.

The bankruptcy filing by Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. has dealt a blow to Japan's hopes of building a domestic space industry, with plans for a Kyushu-based spaceport designed to attract tourism on hold for lack of funding, Reuters reported. Oita prefecture, home to Japan's largest number of hot springs, partnered with Virgin Orbit in 2020 to create its first Asian spaceport at Oita Airport using a Boeing 747 for horizontal rocket launches.