Portuguese bonds staged their biggest rally in more than seven years on Monday after the country won back its investment-grade credit rating, marking one of the most significant milestones in the currency union’s return to fiscal health, the Financial Times reported. Portugal had been in junk territory since 2012 after it became the third eurozone country forced into an international bailout, receiving a €78bn rescue from the International Monetary Fund and EU after Greece and Ireland were subjected to similar programmes.

British Airways owner IAG has joined the field of bidders for parts or all of insolvent German airline Air Berlin, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. Lufthansa and several other parties had put in bids for parts of Air Berlin by the deadline of Friday set by the insolvency administrator, Reuters reported. Air Berlin is Germany’s second-biggest airline after Lufthansa. It employs more than 8,000 people.

What’s in a word? A lot when it comes to the term “liquidity.” For years, academics, investors and regulators have sparred over the meaning of liquidity, and the degree to which it’s said to have deteriorated in the marketplace, Bloomberg News reported. For many, it’s simply the ability to sell an asset without significantly affecting its price. To others it’s the hallmark of a healthy market, or the symptom of a disease brought on by “easy money” provided by central banks in the years since the financial crisis.

As the European Central Bank brainstorms scenarios for winding down its 2.3 trillion-euro ($2.8 trillion) asset-purchase program, there is what may sound like a chicken-and-egg problem to solve, Bloomberg News reported. It goes as follows: when the central bank buys bonds and its balance sheet grows, is it the former or the latter that gives policy makers more bang for their buck? And what happens when the balance sheet stops growing and the ECB just continues reinvesting income from maturing bonds as it has pledged to do? Will the stimulus continue to work?

When Juan Velayos left his job at the accountancy firm PwC to become chief executive of Spanish housebuilder Neinor Homes two years ago, some people thought he was crazy. Construction companies in Spain once built more residential homes every year than the rest of western Europe combined, fuelled by cheap debt. But a 35 per cent slump in prices after the 2007 financial crisis left much of the sector bankrupt, the Financial Times reported.

Lufthansa and several other parties had put in bids for parts of Air Berlin by the deadline of Friday set by the administrator of the insolvent airline which employs more than 8,000 people, Reuters reported. Germany’s second-biggest airline after Lufthansa filed for bankruptcy last month after major shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. The country’s coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term in a federal election on Sept.

Volkswagen will recall 4.86m vehicles sold in China over airbag problems, marking the latest blow for the German carmaker that has suffered numerous quality and distribution issues in the Asian country this year. VW will recall vehicles equipped with airbags manufactured by the now-bankrupt Japanese automotive parts maker Takata, according to a notice posted by China’s consumer inspection bureau, the Financial Times reported. The recall will apply to both imported and Chinese-made vehicles sold as early as 2005 and take effect in March 2018.

A new vehicle linked to Lars Windhorst has raised a €500m bond intended to help the flamboyant German financier settle outstanding lawsuits and repay existing debts, as he tries to keep his heavily indebted business empire afloat, the Financial Times reported. Over the past 18 months Mr Windhorst has been engaged in legal battles involving at least €220m with several investors — including Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik — over amounts owed under financing agreements in his complex web of funding vehicles.

Cement is not the easiest product to export. But at the height of the eurozone crisis, with Portugal’s construction industry paralysed, its cement makers had no choice. Supported by a weak euro, they ploughed their efforts into selling abroad — so much so that their exports soared from close to nothing to more than 60 per cent of production, the Financial Times reported. “In a very short time and by an enormous effort of cost-cutting and commercial prospecting, we had to remake ourselves as exporters,” said Gonçalo Salazar Leite, head of Portugal’s cement industry association.

France’s finance minister has called for new tools to bolster the “prosperity” and “stability” of the eurozone to prevent it being swept away in a populist backlash. Bruno Le Maire said the 19 members of the single currency had to seize a two-year window before the next European parliamentary elections to silence the euro’s opponents by embracing deeper fiscal integration and boosting investment throughout the bloc, the Financial Times reported.