European Central Bank policymakers are gathering on Thursday for what may have become a crisis meeting as Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens to derail economic growth in the euro zone and complicate the ECB's path out of negative interest rates, Reuters reported. The ECB's "informal get-together" was aimed at preparing a decision on March 10 on the likely end of the ECB's bond-buying stimulus programme, paving the way for the first rate hike in more than a decade to tackle surprisingly high inflation.

British retailers reported slower sales growth in February but said demand was better than normal for the time of year as the Omicron wave of coronavirus cases eased, according to a Confederation of British Industry survey published on Thursday, Reuters reported. The CBI's monthly retail sales balance halved to +14 in February from +28 in January, a bigger fall than economists' forecasts in a Reuters poll for a small decline to +25. However sales for the time of year improved sharply in February from January, with the balance rising to +16 from -23.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG has told pilots that it could launch a new airline to save on costs if negotiations on a new union contract collapse, Bloomberg News reported. While it could lead to walkouts, such a move would be aimed at increasing Lufthansa’s leverage after months of talks that have failed to produce an agreement on pay. A fresh operating certificate would enable the German company to dismiss pilots, cabin crew and ground staff working under the old structure, then offer to rehire them with less costly contracts.

SAS AB risks a credit downgrade from Standard & Poor’s if the Scandinavian airline follows through with plans announced this week to convert debt into equity, Bloomberg News reported. This week, the Stockholm-based airline said it planned a number of measures, including a rights offering and swapping hybrid and unsecured debt for equity, to raise capital and lower its debt levels, while repositioning the business coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The mission of the International Monetary Fund is starting its work in Ukraine for the second review of the Fund-supported programme, the global lender said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Ukraine hopes that the continuation of cooperation with the IMF can reassure markets that have been rattled by tensions with Russia and that the talks will result in disbursement of $700 million under its $5 billion IMF programme.

London Heathrow airport’s losses from two years of coronavirus disruption swelled to 3.8 billion pounds ($5.2 billion), leaving its finances hanging on a summer travel rebound and the go-ahead from regulators to raise prices, Bloomberg News reported. The U.K. hub had a loss of 1.8 billion pounds last year -- narrowing slightly from 2020 -- after passenger numbers slumped to the lowest since 1972, Heathrow said in an earnings statement on Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund told the Bank of England on Wednesday to be clear about its plans to withdraw stimulus for Britain's economy, following criticism of the central bank's communications in recent months, Reuters reported. In an annual review, the IMF said high inflation and Brexit could hurt growth in Britain in the years ahead. While IMF directors backed the BoE's decision to raise interest rates in December and February and start winding down its 895 billion pounds ($1.22 trillion) quantitative easing programme, they had some communications advice for the BoE.

Slovenia’s premier moved to block a controversial deal that would hand a large chunk of the country’s biggest tourism group to a buyer with ties to the family of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Bloomberg News reported. Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s cabinet on Monday approved a 41.6 million-euro ($47.2 million) boost to the capital of the country’s Sovereign Holding, allowing it to exercise an option to buy the 43.2% stake in Sava d.d., which controls hotels spanning the Adriatic coast to the shore of picturesque Lake Bled in the Alps.

U.S. President Joe Biden unleashed sanctions targeting Russia’s sale of sovereign debt abroad and the country’s elites, responding to what he described as the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. “He’s setting up a rationale to take more territory by force,” Biden said Tuesday at the White House. “This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Biden said that he’s sending an unspecified number of additional U.S. troops to the Baltics in a defensive move to defend NATO countries.

Germany and the European Union are in a position to decide on further sanctions against Russia in the event of a complete Russian invasion of Ukraine, which cannot be ruled out, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Scholz said Russia's recognition of the two breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was not compatible with international law and endangered the sovereignty of Ukraine. "We cannot accept this," Scholz was quoted as saying by broadcaster RTL, adding that respecting borders was important for peace in Europe.