The British government announced on Wednesday hundreds of billions of pounds in spending on defense, health care and investment in infrastructure and housing, as it laid out its economic priorities for the next few years, the New York Times reported. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the Exchequer, presented a breakdown of the public finances in Parliament, detailing how much money each government department will have to spend until 2029, around the time of the next general election. It brings to an end months of tense negotiations between Ms.

The German economy is expected to grow this year following two consecutive years of contraction, four economic institutes said on Thursday, raising their forecasts for 2025 and 2026, Reuters reported. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) raised its forecast to 0.3% growth from the stagnation it had previously envisaged due to a better-than-expected first quarter, when the economy grew by 0.4%. "The German economy is seeing some light at the end of the tunnel," the economists said in their new forecasts.

Romania’s competition authority said it has approved the notified acquisition of local wood processing company ZG Timber Sebes by Austrian wood-based panel manufacturer Kronospan Holdings, SeeNews.com reported. The Competition Council found no significant concerns regarding the effect of the transaction on competition within the Romanian market, it said in a statement on Friday. ZG Timber Sebes produces timber and pellets at a plant in the central city of Sebes, Alba county.

The European Central Bank’s most recent rate cut will help ensure that inflation doesn’t settle below its 2% target, Chief Economist Philip Lane said on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB last week lowered its key interest rate for the eighth time since June 2024 after figures showed the annual rate of inflation fell to 1.9% in May.

UBS finance chief Todd Tuckner voiced his disappointment on Wednesday over proposed new Swiss capital regulations, which he said was the beginning of a possibly long process that the bank intends to contribute to, Reuters reported. "Naturally, as to capital, we're disappointed," Tuckner said at a conference in Berlin, speaking days after the Swiss government proposed rules that could make the country's remaining big bank hold $26 billion more in core capital. "We are looking at every possible option to potentially mitigate the imposition of these extreme capital measures," he added.

Institutional investment in residential real estate in Ireland fell by 80 per cent in 2023 and 2024, according to the Central Bank, the Irish Times reported. “Inward capital flows and equity financing for new residential development have fallen markedly,” the bank’s director of financial stability Mark Cassidy said at the launch of the regulator’s latest Financial Stability Review. Changes to the global financial system from higher interest rates and increased uncertainty were of particular concern to the residential rental sector here, he said.

The Swiss government on Friday proposed stricter rules for UBS following its takeover of Credit Suisse, which could make it hold $26 billion more in core capital, confirming some of the bank's worst fears about incoming new regulations, Reuters reported. The key proposal, which the bank would have six to eight years to prepare for after it became law, is that UBS must fully capitalise its foreign units, in line with what many analysts, lawmakers and executives had been expecting.