Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief economist, defended central banks on Wednesday night against the charge that their exceptionally loose monetary policy and asset purchases are pushing many financial markets to dangerous highs, the Financial Times reported. Mr Haldane accepted that central bank policies had shifted risk out of the banking sector and this was likely to exacerbate fear and greed cycles in financial markets, but said the new dangers were worth it.

Thirty-three years after its foundation and having been one of the Greek fish-farming sector’s biggest players, Selonda Aquaculture SA is about to pass into the hands of its creditors, ekathimerini.com reported. After months of negotiations with banks and several failed attempts to merge the firm with Dias Aquaculture and then Nireus, Selonda has come to an agreement with the banks that includes the capitalization of outstanding loans of 50 million euros and the issue of corporate bonds up to 105 million euros.

Securities regulators in Portugal and Britain have temporarily banned short-selling in Banco Espírito Santo after the Portuguese lender’s stock fell more than 16 percent on Monday on fears about its corporate parent, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Late Monday, the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários of Portugal suspended short-selling in Banco Espírito Santo and in the Espírito Santo Financial Group, which owns about a quarter of the bank’s stock. The Financial Conduct Authority of Britain followed suit on Tuesday.

The European Central Bank is yet to take any firm decisions on how it intends to revive the market for securitisation, despite a pledge last month to intensify efforts to reinvigorate an asset class branded as “toxic sludge” during the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. The eurozone’s top central bankers will gather in Frankfurt this week to discuss economic developments.

The unemployment rate in the euro zone remained close to a high in May, according to official data released on Tuesday, a reminder that despite modest growth, the recession has never ended for millions of Europeans, the International New York Times reported. The jobless rate in the 18-nation euro zone in May was 11.6 percent, unchanged from the revised rate for April, according to Eurostat, the European Union statistics agency. The rate for April was revised downward from a previously reported 11.7 percent. Economists had expected the rate in May to again be 11.7 percent.

The European Commission said on Monday it had approved a Bulgarian request to extend a credit line of 3.3 billion levs, or about $2.25 billion, in support of banks that have come under speculative attack, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. “The Commission concluded that the state aid implied by the provision of the credit line is proportionate and commensurate with the need to ensure sufficient liquidity in the banking system in the particular circumstances,” the European Union’s executive branch said in a statement.

In 2007, the German government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel voted to lift the retirement age gradually to 67 from 65, in line with policies being adopted by the United States and other countries concerned about the costs of supporting an aging population. Economists say that move not only stabilized Germany’s public pension system but also put Berlin in a position to insist during the subsequent financial crisis that other European governments follow suit, the International New York Times reported. But now, with the worst of the economic downturn apparently past, and Ms.

Bulgaria’s political leaders held emergency talks on Sunday with Rosen Plevneliev, the president, following warnings by the government and the central bank of attempts by unidentified people to destabilise the financial system, the Financial Times reported. The second run on a Bulgarian-owned bank in a week took place on Friday, prompting fears that other local lenders might face problems when they open on Monday. Scores of protesters gathered outside the president’s office, shouting, “resign, resign” as the party leaders arrived for the talks.

Judgment has been reserved on the Central Bank’s move to stop a former director of Irish Nationwide Building Society pursuing it for an indemnity against any award of damages against him arising from alleged delegation of powers of the Board of the Society to its former chief executive Michael Fingleton, the Irish Times reported.

The German government won't take on new debt in 2015—the first time since 1969 it has avoided doing so, according to draft budget figures, as Berlin seeks to demonstrate the benefits of structural economic changes to its struggling euro-zone partners, The Wall Street Journal reported. Germany has become Europe's growth engine with solid finances over the past few years, after a social-welfare overhaul implemented 10 years ago helped the country to boost economic and job growth.