Italy’s finance ministry said that it has agreed on a compromise with European Union authorities over the country’s budget deficit, resolving a dispute between Rome’s populist government and EU fiscal enforcers that has vexed financial markets for months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agreement, which wasn’t confirmed yesterday night by the EU executive, the European Commission, would allow Italy to avoid an EU disciplinary procedure for now.

The International Monetary Fund approved a new $3.9 billion bailout program for Ukraine to help stabilize the economy and help the government pay back its debts, according to President Petro Poroshenko, Bloomberg News reported. The board of the Washington-based lender agreed on Tuesday to provide the eastern European country with the first $1.4 billion disbursement. It’s part of the stand-by program which replaces a bailout that suffered long delays as the government failed to implement the reforms necessary to release the cash.

HMV Retail, part of what was once the U.K.’s biggest seller of music and movies, will wind up its stores in Hong Kong after a quarter century as the rise of streaming services from Spotify Technology SA and Netflix Inc. make CDs and DVDs obsolete, Bloomberg News reported. The chain’s owner, HMV Digital China Group Ltd., said yesterday that it appointed liquidators for the unit. The decision came after the music-store chain, known for its logo of a cock-eared dog listening to a gramophone, defaulted on various payments and became insolvent, it said.

Last week, the Swiss Federal Council announced a report on the legal framework for Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) for the financial services industry, CrowdfundInsider.com reported. According to the Council, the Swiss legal framework “is well suited to deal with new technologies including blockchain.” Even while noting the benefits of DLT, Council believes there is “an occasional need for adjustment,” including the monitoring and review of the potential for money laundering (AML) and terror financing risk pertaining to the usage of digital assets.

The concessions offered by Italy’s government on its planned budget are on the right track but may not be enough to placate Brussels, the EU’s economy commissioner has warned. “It is a step in the right direction but we are not there yet, there are still steps to be taken, perhaps on both sides,” Pierre Moscovici said on Thursday. Rome has proposed cutting its planned budget deficit for 2019 to 2.04 per cent from 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product, the Financial Times reported.

Mario Draghi, the ECB president, has acknowledged that slower growth lies ahead for the eurozone, reflecting persistently weak data for the region in recent months, the Financial Times reported. The euro gave up its gains for the day and turned negative as Mr Draghi spoke following the end of the central bank’s regular policy meeting on Thursday.

Mike Ashley said Christmas shopping has been so bad for retailers that it “will literally smash them to pieces”, in a dire warning that sent shares in his Sports Direct chain sharply lower and spread more gloom on UK high streets, the Financial Times reported. Shares in Debenhams, Next and Marks and Spencer all dropped more than 3 per cent on a day when the broader market was flat. Helen Connolly, chief executive of fashion retailer Bonmarché, echoed Mr Ashley’s sentiments. She warned that conditions were “unprecedented” and “significantly worse” than during the financial crisis.

Investors from Canada and Asia may offer a much-needed relief for Poland’s fledgling corporate bond market, hammered by the country’s largest corporate default and scandals that undermined trust in its banking watchdog, Bloomberg News reported. With global growth set to fizzle amid rising trade tensions, a unit of Canada’s largest lender, Toronto-Dominion Bank, is looking to invest in Polish bonds to capitalize on the nation’s fast-expanding economy.