Germany will increase borrowing plans by nearly 40 billion euros ($43 billion) this year to cushion the effect of the war in Ukraine, taking the total for net new debt to almost 140 billion euros, Bloomberg News reported. The adjustment is needed to help finance a range of government measures designed to offset the economic impact of the war and surging energy prices on companies and consumers, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity before the fiscal plan is presented to the cabinet on Wednesday.

Air Lease Corp. said on Friday it would write off the value of the 27 jets it has remaining in sanctions-hit Russia, a move that is expected to lead to charges of about $802 million, Reuters reported. Global aircraft leasing companies have been scrambling to repossess more than 400 jets worth almost $10 billion from Russian airlines, which have mostly been unresponsive to demands for surrendering the jets. "It is unlikely that the company will regain possession of the aircraft that have not been returned and that remain in Russia," Air Lease said in a statement.

Russian households withdrew foreign currency worth $9.8 billion from their accounts in March and banks cut new corporate lending by around one third, the central bank said on Wednesday, as western sanctions over events in Ukraine spooked consumers, Reuters reported. "The quarter was difficult, to put it bluntly. It was very worrying at certain moments, but most importantly, the situation managed to stabilise," said Alexander Danilov, director of the central bank's banking regulation and analytics department. "The banking sector faced significant outflow of the population's funds ...

As Russia teeters on the brink of a historic default, foreign investors in the country's debt have few palatable options to recover their money: bet on costly legal action, trust bilateral agreements will stand, or sit on their hands, according to a Reuters analysis. Foreign creditors would typically try to band together to negotiate, go to court or in some cases seek arbitration in cases of default, but Western sanctions in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and the peculiarities of Russian sovereign bonds make those options hard at the moment, lawyers said.

The U.K. seized 2 million pounds ($2.61 million) from a London-based fintech firm, saying that the funds were linked to a $150 million U.S. wire fraud conspiracy, Bloomberg News reported. QPay Europe Ltd., which offers due diligence and underwriting services, agreed to forfeit the money following court proceedings, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement Thursday. The funds were routed repeatedly through different accounts in several countries without appearing to have any legitimate purpose, the FCA said.

Bank of England policy maker Catherine Mann said she’s considering whether interest rates need to rise by more than a quarter point next month, reigniting the debate about a quicker pace of tightening for monetary policy, Bloomberg News reported. Money markets cranked up BOE tightening wagers after the remarks, betting on at least one half-point hike by August. Yields on U.K. two-year government bonds -- which are the most sensitive to monetary policy -- surged by as much as 16 basis points to 1.72%, the highest since 2009.

Russia’s payment of rubles on two dollar bonds was ruled a potential default by a derivatives panel, bringing holders of insurance contracts on the debt closer to a payout, Bloomberg News reported. The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee said Wednesday that a “Potential Failure-to-Pay” event occurred for credit-default swaps when Russia paid rubles after foreign banks declined to process U.S. currency transfers. The group, which includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co., said the potential failure happened on April 4.

All large euro zone banks can withstand a full write-off of their Russian exposure and still respect their capital requirements, the European Central Bank's top supervisor Andrea Enria said in a letter published on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing Western sanctions have already forced the European units of some Russian banks out of business and caused some European lenders to leave Russia or consider such a move.

The U.S. rolled out new sanctions on Wednesday against more than 40 individuals and entities accused of evading the ongoing wave of penalties imposed on Russia as punishment for invading Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. The sanctions include the first set of penalties against cryptocurrency mining firms in relation to the war. The Treasury Department’s sanctions arm designated the commercial bank Transkapitalbank, which has operations in China and the Middle East. Transkapitalbank is a Russian privately owned commercial bank which the U.S.

Greece will raise the minimum wage from May 1 for a second time this year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday as rising inflation takes a toll on household incomes, Reuters reported. "The global surge in inflation is hitting low incomes. From May 1 the basic wage will rise by 50 euros a month to 713 euros a month," Mitsotakis said in a televised address. The conservative government raised the monthly gross minimum wage by about 2% to 663 euros in January, meaning that with the new increase the minimum wage will go up by 9.7%.