The resolution of non-performing loans (NPLs) by Irish banks needs to “regain momentum” while plans to give the Central Bank powers to cap mortgage interest rates could prevent lenders from generating “sustainable profits” and deter new entrants to the market, the European Commission has warned. In its latest unpublished post-bailout surveillance report on Ireland, seen by The Irish Times, the commission stated that while much work has been done by the banks to reduce their NPLs, the stock “remains high and shows signs of stickiness,” the Irish Times reported.

The European Central Bank hinted at the beginning of the end of its massive monetary stimulus, but stopped short of a significant move to rein it in, brushing off concerns that its policies are excessive as the eurozone’s €10 trillion ($10.542 trillion) economy picks up speed, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB’s decision on Thursday to keep its foot on the gas underscores the divergence between the world’s two most powerful central banks. Federal Reserve officials have indicated recently that the U.S. central bank is ready to raise interest rates again as soon as next week.

Some €700 million worth of non-performing mortgage loans (NPLs) across 1,560 accounts at Permanent TSB are “en route to closure” through a legal process, the bank’s chief executive Jeremy Masding warned yesterday, the Irish Times reported. In addition, about 4,000 mortgage account holders have yet to receive a determination from the bank on their untreated loan arrears. This includes a “hard core” of 1,500 account holders who have refused to engage with the lender.

The industrial sector has the highest insolvency risk in 2017, says an analysis of CITR, the Romanian insolvency administration company. Out of industry and constructions sectors, there are already 54 percent, respectively 15 percent of the total fixed assets of the companies with insolvency requests in 2017. At the end of February, 120 companies, each with assets with over EUR 1 million, have already recorded insolvency requests. The number of cumulated of employees of these companies reached 20,000 and their turnovers account over EUR 1.5 billion.

Philip Hammond, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, pledged to make the country “the best place to do business” in his Spring Budget, days ahead of the UK’s formal notification to Brussels of its intention to leave the EU, the Financial Times reported. Basking in better forecasts for the economy and public finances this year, Mr Hammond praised the resilience of the UK since the EU referendum. “Last year, the British economy grew faster than the United States, faster than Japan, faster than France,” he said.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced 435 million pounds ($530 million) of relief for small retailers and pubs struggling to cope with higher property taxes, though he faced immediate criticism that he’s not doing enough. Measures include a 300 million-pound fund that will enable local authorities to give discretionary relief to the hardest-hit, Bloomberg News reported.

Improving growth and the rarity of inflation running ahead of the European Central Bank’s target provide the awkward backdrop to the meeting of policymakers in Frankfurt this week. After years spent worrying about the scourge of deflation, officials have just seen prices in the eurozone increase at a faster pace than their target of just below 2 per cent for the first time in four years, the Financial Times reported.

A strong upswing in business and consumer confidence and buoyant financial markets are not enough to pull the world out of a “low-growth trap”, the OECD said on Tuesday as it released its latest forecasts. The Paris-based club of mostly rich nations noted that it had not revised up its growth forecasts from those in November so there was now a troubling disconnect between buoyant financial market valuations and real economy prospects, the Financial Times reported.

Europe’s economy is accelerating, sparking optimism during a year of contentious politics but also rekindling a war of words between the eurozone’s top monetary officials, The Wall Street Journal reported. In one camp is European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who wants to avoid dramatic moves with fraught elections looming in the Netherlands, France and Germany. In the other is German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, an ardent critic of the ECB’s easy-money policies, who is concerned the dosage of stimulus is too strong for a healing economy.

The European Central Bank is unlikely to beef up its lending of government bonds when it meets on Thursday, sources said, raising the spectre of a painful new squeeze in a vital market for investors. Sources at euro zone central banks said political, legal and technical hurdles were still standing in the way of industry calls for them to lend out more of the €1.4 trillion of sovereign debt they have bought to boost inflation, the Irish Times reported.