Spain’s constitutional crisis in Catalonia will lower the country’s projected economic growth next year, according to Madrid’s finance minister. Luis de Guindos said the country’s GDP growth projection had been lowered by about 0.4-0.5 percentage points to 2.3 per cent next year — “a small impact” as a result of events in Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s GDP, the Financial Times reported. Speaking in Brussels on Monday, Mr de Guindos said the government’s projections would likely match the European Commission’s latest economic forecasts due on Thursday.

Growth in Italy’s services sector cooled to a one-year low in October as domestic demand struggled, a survey published on Monday showed. The Italian service sector still expanded in October according to the IHS Markit Italy services purchasing managers’ index — the third month in a row that activity has slowed, the Financial Times reported. But the index dropped to a one-year low of 52.1, down from September’s 53.2 and below analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll of a 53.0 reading.

Eurozone policymakers will pay increasing attention to the bloc’s debt levels as part of its attempts to shore up the public finances of member states during a strong economic recovery, the Financial Times reported. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the Eurogroup, said reducing government debt levels “is becoming more and more important” at a time when many member states have made impressive progress in reducing their fiscal deficits.

Shareholders in AIB have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a restructuring of the bank aimed at meeting new European rules on minimising future taxpayer bailouts, the Irish Times reported. The bank, which cost €20.8 billion to rescue during the financial crisis, sought shareholder approval for the scheme at an extraordinary general meeting in Ballsbridge, Dublin, on Friday. The AIB board had unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions.

The German government has said it still expects the 150 million-euro ($175 million) loan granted to Air Berlin to be repaid in full, after a court opened formal insolvency proceedings against the carrier on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The loan granted in August had kept Air Berlin planes in the air while administrators held talks with prospective buyers of the airline’s assets. “The loan of 150 million euros will be repaid from the proceeds of asset sales,” a spokeswoman for the economy ministry said on Thursday.

The Bank of England has increased interest rates for the first time since 2007, despite fears for the fragility of the UK economy as its 2019 departure from the European Union nears, the Irish Times reported. Policymakers on the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) opted to increase interest rates to 0.5 per cent, up a quarter of a point, by a majority of seven to two.

Danske Bank in Northern Ireland has reported a pre-tax profit of £77.4 million (€88.1 million) for the first nine months of 2017. The latest financial results show a £20 million year on year fall in pre-tax profits - over the corresponding period in 2016 Danske Bank’s profits had previously hit £98.1 million, the Irish Times reported. The Copenhagen headquartered bank has blamed the “adverse impact” of the Bank of England’s base rate on its income levels as well has higher expenses from a restructuring programme.

An Air Berlin plane that was grounded in Iceland last month over unpaid charges is due to be flown home on Wednesday, a spokesman for the insolvent carrier said. The A320 jet with registration D-ABDX was grounded on Oct. 19 after arriving at Keflavik airport, Reuters reported. A spokesman for the airport operator said the debt had been paid on Monday and the aircraft was free to leave. The plane is due to leave Keflavik at 1600 GMT and will be flown to Berlin Schoenefeld airport, where it will eventually join the fleet of British budget carrier easyJet, the Air Berlin spokesman said.

The Greek government is planning an unprecedented debt swap worth 29.7 billion euros ($34.5 billion) aimed at boosting the liquidity of its paper and easing the sale of new bonds in the future, Bloomberg News reported. Under a project that could be launched in mid November, the government plans to swap 20 bonds issued after a restructuring of Greek debt held by private investors in 2012 with as many as five new fixed-coupon bonds, according to two senior bankers with knowledge of the swap plan. The bank officials requested anonymity as the plan has yet to be made public.

Euro zone finance ministers will discuss next week completion of the banking union, ideas for setting up a common budget and ways to simplify the bloc's fiscal rules, in preparation for a December summit on reforming the currency area, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. No conclusions are likely to be reached at the Eurogroup meeting on Monday, however, as there are widely differing views among the 19 countries that share the euro on most aspects of reform. "It will be more laying out the table before cooking starts," one senior euro zone official said.