U.K. retail sales rose last month, a boon to the economy which is suffering from high inflation and slowing activity, the Wall Street Journal reported. Retail volumes were 0.5% higher on month in August, the same increase as July, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Clothing stores, butchers and bakers, and non-store retailing improved in August, which some retailers attributed to the good weather, the ONS said. However, on a three-month basis, sales fell 0.1%. The Bank of England held rates at this week’s meeting, after inflation stayed well above target in August.

Rachel Reeves has been handed a £3bn blow to VAT receipts as the fiscal watchdog warned that cash-strapped consumers could be switching to cheaper food options amid soaring inflation, The Telegraph reported. The Chancellor was forced to borrow £11.4bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast between April and August, official figures showed. The OBR said this could be blamed on local councils borrowing £2.8bn more than expected during the period, as well as lower-than-expected receipts for the Treasury.

The European Union proposed sanctions against Chinese and other foreign companies buying Russian oil, as part of a package of measures intended to show President Trump the bloc is ramping up economic pressure on Russia and its backers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The EU also would impose new banking sanctions, blacklist additional companies aiding Russia’s military and speed up its plan to phase out purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas. The measures will need the backing of all 27 member states, which isn’t guaranteed.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena has secured more than two thirds of Mediobanca's bourse data showed on Friday, crossing the ownership threshold needed to push through any extraordinary shareholder decisions, Reuters reported. Monte dei Paschi's hostile share-and-cash buyout offer concludes on Monday, the last day on which Mediobanca shareholders can tender their shares.

Norway’s central bank cut its key policy rate to 4% Thursday but hinted that going forward it might not ease monetary policy as much as it previously expected, the Wall Street Journal reported. The central bank began easing monetary policy in June, bringing the rate down to 4.25% from 4.5%, and has long signaled a gradual further reduction to support economic activity.

The Bank of England (BoE ) held its main interest rate at 4% on Thursday as inflation in the UK remains stubbornly high, EuroNews.com reported. The decision was widely anticipated, as was the split of votes on the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee. Seven of the panel backed the decision, while two voted for a quarter-point reduction to 3.75%.

The European Central Bank might not have completed a series of rate cuts that began in June 2024, Vice President Luis de Guindos said Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB last week left its key interest rate at 2% for the second straight meeting, with inflation having settled at its 2% target. It had previously cut eight times in a year. Some investors have concluded that the central bank has finished with rate cuts, since inflation is at its 2% target and forecast to settle at that level after a 2026 dip.

A former boss of one of Britain's oldest business groups has been banned from holding company directorships for 11 years after abusing a state-backed emergency loan scheme for businesses struggling during the COVID pandemic, Reuters reported. Britain's Insolvency Service said on Thursday that it had barred Anna Daroy, a 61-year-old former director general of the Institute of Directors (IoD), after she secured two 50,000 pound ($68,085) "Bounce Back" loans for a management consultancy in 2020 when companies were only entitled to one.