Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has set aside a 15 billion-pound ($20 billion) fund that could be used for tax cuts before the next election if the pandemic is brought under control, analysis of U.K. budget figures shows, Bloomberg News reported. Sunak put the money aside in a reserve for unforeseen emergencies in a spending review published with the budget last month. While all chancellors maintain such a cushion in case spending overshoots, Sunak’s is multiples larger than that of his predecessors.

Two Irish building companies involved in the construction of rural housing have been given the protection of the courts from their creditors, the Irish Times reported. Trinity Homes Ltd (THL), and a related company, Yeronga Ltd, are involved in the construction of new housing units primarily in rural parts of the State, including Wexford, Tipperary, Kerry and Meath. Many of the units have been built for local authorities. The companies have also constructed units for the housing charity Cluid.

The Bank of England and the Treasury are to launch a formal consultation on a UK central bank digital currency, BBC.com reported. This evaluation of the design and possible benefits of a new kind of digital money is a further step towards its possible creation. The currency, for use by households and businesses, would sit alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them. No decision has been taken on whether to have such a currency in the UK.

The number of the Irish citizens receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen by over half million or 87 per cent since the peak of the crisis, the Irish Times reported. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show there were 77,806 workers in receipt of the payment at the end of last month, down from 605,671 in the first week of May last year. This corresponds to a fall of 527,865 or 87 per cent when compared to peak.

Irish government ministers have met to dust off contingency plans in case disagreements between Britain and the European Union trigger major trade disruption, deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The European Union last week said that Britain had made no move to seek a compromise on post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland and cautioned London against triggering emergency unilateral provisions Anger, tangle and trouble: Is another Brexit showdown looming? in the Brexit deal.

Norwegian banks are well-equipped if faced with a new downturn and the economic recovery has improved the outlook for financial stability, but risks remain, the central bank said in an annual report on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "The stress test in this report shows that the largest Norwegian banks can weather a sharp downturn without having to tighten lending substantially," Deputy Governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement.

U.K. food prices are rising at their fastest pace since August 2020, figures from data firm Kantar suggest, as supply chain disruption continues, BBC.com reported. Grocery inflation rose to 2.1% in October - the highest rate since last year, when retailers were cutting promotions amid the Covid pandemic. Last week, the Bank of England confounded market expectations by holding interest rates. But with overall inflation heading for about 5%, a rate rise is expected soon. Supply chains have been under pressure from factors including the pandemic and a shortage of lorry drivers.

European Union finance ministers agreed on Monday that the current surge in consumer prices would subside next year and that high public debt created by the pandemic had to be reduced, but in a way that would not hurt economic growth, Reuters reported. Inflation rose 4.1% year-on-year last month in the 19 countries sharing the euro, up from 3.4% in September and the ministers are starting to worry that the rise might fuel stronger wage growth, creating an inflationary spiral.

Germany’s export-oriented economy used to be a reliable engine for pulling Europe out of slumps. Now, as the continent emerges from a pandemic torpor, Germany is lagging behind, the Wall Street Journal reported. German manufacturers are struggling to produce cars and factory equipment because of parts and labor shortages. They face surging energy prices that are making sky-high electricity bills even higher. And they must invest hundreds of billions of dollars over coming years to meet new clean-energy standards.

French economic activity reached a level in August not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic and has continued rising since, aided by a strong recovery in the service sector, according to a Bank of France’s survey of businesses, Bloomberg News reported. Economic output was about 0.5% above early 2020 levels in October and will rise again in November, putting the euro area’s second-largest economy on track for roughly 0.75% growth in the final quarter of the year, the estimates show.