Dutch energy company Anode Energy plans to file for bankruptcy, the company said on Wednesday, the third in the Netherlands this year to become insolvent due to high energy prices, Reuters reported. Director Eric van Teeffelen said that the company, which supplies around 14,000 retail customers, had been forced to make the decision after its energy supplier could no longer meet its obligations. "We were forced to purchase on the spot market -- hedged prices are no longer available -- and the current prices are much higher, we can't endure it," he said.

Hungary delivered its fourth interest-rate increase in a month to nurture a nascent recovery in the forint, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank in Budapest raised the one-week deposit rate by 20 basis points to 3.10% on Thursday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey were evenly split in predicting a 10 or 20 basis point increase. The central bank is doubling down on monetary tightening after its inflation-fighting credibility was dented this fall, when it prematurely slowed the pace of rate hikes as peers in the Czech Republic and Poland accelerated theirs and prices continued to surge.

Euro zone producer prices jumped more than expected in October, data showed on Thursday, driven mainly by a surge in energy prices, while unemployment eased again as the economy continued to recover from the pandemic-induced recession, Reuters reported. The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said prices at factory gates in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 5.4% month-on-month for a 21.9% year-on-year surge. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 3.5% monthly rise and a 19.0% annual gain.

Italy's Treasury is discussing with European Union authorities the possibility of extending by more than two years a 2021 deadline to cut Rome's 64% stake in ailing bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), Reuters reported. Under the terms of a 5.4 billion euro ($6.12 billion) state bailout agreed with Brussels in 2017, Italy was supposed to have a deal in place by the end of this year to re-privatise MPS, but this has not proved possible. Talks to sell the Tuscan lender to the country's No.2 bank UniCredit collapsed in October, leaving the Treasury chasing alternative options.

The U.K.’s energy regulator said it may impose stricter capital requirements for gas and power suppliers after almost two dozen companies collapsed since August in the wake of soaring prices, Bloomberg News reported. The surge in wholesale rates to levels almost four times higher than usual for this time of year has wreaked havoc on the energy retail sector. Many of those going out of business were partially or totally unhedged, leaving them vulnerable when prices increased dramatically.

The European Union has experienced a "breakthrough year" with the United States even if not all trade irritants are gone and now wants to work with its transatlantic ally to start forging trade rules for the future, the EU trade chief said, Reuters reported. A year on from Joe Biden's defeat of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, the two sides have suspended their disputes over aircraft subsidies and steel and aluminium tariffs and launched an alliance to cooperate on future technologies. "One can say that this year was indeed a breakthrough year for EU-U.S.

KPMG risks a ban on bidding for public contracts if there is a repeat of recent scandals at one of the UK government’s biggest providers of consulting services, the cabinet office has warned, the Irish Times reported. The threat was made in a letter from the department to the Big Four consultant seeking assurances that there would be no further misconduct at the firm. KPMG’s reputation has suffered in recent years after a series of fines for misconduct. It is also under investigation over other allegations of malpractice.

Ukraine has appealed to the European Union for additional financial aid as the country struggles to meet its obligations and faces the threat of a potential invasion from Russian troops massing on its borders, Bloomberg News reported. “We have formally requested from the European Commission a long-term, macro-financial program to ensure sustainable financing in the upcoming years,” Yuriy Butsa, Ukraine’s commissioner for public debt management, said via WhatsApp.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the Greek economy could grow more than projected next year, saying he was "very bullish" about prospects for the economy and a successful tourism season unless there are further big complications from COVID-19, Reuters reported. Greece's economy attracts particular scrutiny after a decade of financial turmoil which saw the nation of 11 million people almost topple out of the euro zone as recently as 2015.

The European Union will seek to mobilize 300 billion euros ($340 billion) in public and private infrastructure investments by 2027 to offer developing countries an alternative to China’s massive Belt and Road program, Bloomberg News reported. The EU’s “Global Gateway” project unveiled on Wednesday outlines spending on digital, transport, energy and health projects. And while the proposal doesn’t mention China directly, it offers a counter to Beijing’s overseas development plan that critics say has pushed countries to unsustainable levels of indebtedness.