Tax revenues from the country’s oil & gas sector will fall as fossil fuel prices drop, the UK government expects, restricting Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spending power in the budget next month, Bloomberg News reported. Treasury officials estimate tax revenues in 2023-2024 from oil & gas will be £12.7 billion ($15.3 billion) lower than forecast in November as a result of the lower gas price, two people familiar with the matter said. That would wipe out the saving the government is due to make on supporting household energy bills as a result of the same price decrease, they said.

Poland’s central bank left interest rates on hold for a fifth month as signs of a global disinflation strengthened the case for a dovish majority of policy makers, Bloomberg News reported. The Monetary Policy Council held its benchmark rate at 6.75%, matching the expectations of all 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Governor Adam Glapinski has argued in the last few months against additional rate increases, warning that a deeper economic slowdown could trigger job cuts, which the monetary authority wants to avoid.

Tees Valley Lithium struck a preliminary deal to supply raw materials to the preferred buyer of collapsed UK battery startup Britishvolt Ltd., Bloomberg News reported. The early-stage lithium refiner signed a memorandum of understanding to supply toll-processed lithium to Recharge Industries, which has been selected as the preferred bidder for the majority of the insolvent battery firm’s business and assets. Tees Valley plans to produce the lithium at a refinery in the northeast of England that’s set to start operation in 2025.

Two Bank of England officials warned that Britain’s departure from the European Union is helping to stoke inflation and is one of the factors pushing up interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Chief Economist Huw Pill said Monday the trade blow dealt by Brexit adds to risks of the UK economy overheating. Policy maker Catherine Mann earlier in the day said Brexit was a “unique” shock that’s fueling inflation in the UK.

British consumers would be limited to holding a maximum of 20,000 pounds ($24,000) each if the Bank of England goes ahead with a digital version of the British currency, BoE Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Britain's government said on Monday that it and the BoE were pressing on with work on a possible digital pound that was likely to enter circulation in the second half of this decade, though no final decision has been made on whether to go ahead.

Moldova's central bank has cut its key interest rate to 17% from 20% as consumer price inflation has continued to slow, Central Bank Governor Octavian Armasu said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Armasu said the central bank expected consumer price inflation to slow to 13.7% this year after peaking in 2022. He noted inflation slowed to 30.2% in December compared with 34.6% in October last year. "The decision is based on disinflationary processes in the short term and it is aimed at supporting the national economy and businesses," he told a news briefing.

Two of Europe’s biggest airline groups are in talks with administrators of Flybe over an audacious bid to resurrect the stricken regional airline, the Telegraph reported. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM are understood to be in talks to acquire the carrier out of insolvency after it collapsed into bankruptcy for the second time in three years. Administrators from Interpath may have just days to agree to a rescue that would avoid the business being wound up and the Flybe name disappearing from airports for good, according to City sources.

Britain's financial watchdog warned crypto businesses on Monday to get ready for a rule change on advertising later in the year, warning that any breaches by company officials could mean up to two years in prison, Reuters reported. Britain's finance ministry said last week it would set out secondary legislation this year to allow crypto firms which comply with the Financial Conduct Authority's anti-money laundering safeguards to issue their own promotions until new crypto regulation is introduced, probably sometime in 2024.

House builders slammed the brakes on construction at the start of 2023 as a surge in mortgage interest rates causes activity in the property market to freeze over, Bloomberg News reported. The industry suffered its biggest contraction in almost three years in January after a slump in property prices and home loans gathered pace, S&P Global’s construction purchasing managers’ index showed Monday. Britain’s biggest house builders are scaling back new developments amid warnings of large house price falls in 2023.

France’s National Assembly will start debating French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform bill on Monday as unions gear up for two more days of strikes and protests against the plan this week, Bloomberg News reported. So far, neither the government nor opponents to the change have given much ground. Macron has pledged to see his program through, which includes increasing the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62, while unions have called on the French to protest in even greater numbers on Tuesday than they did last week.