Euro-area finance ministers gave Greece two extra years to wrestle down its budget deficit, pledging to plug the resulting financing gaps in order to keep the country in the single currency and prevent a renewed flareup of the debt crisis, Bloomberg reported. Finance ministers granted Greece until 2016 to cut the deficit to 2 percent of gross domestic product. They put off until Nov. 20 a decision on how to cover additional Greek needs of as much as 32.6 billion euros ($41 billion) and left unclear whether the International Monetary Fund will continue to contribute.

Greece is battling to raise funds to avoid defaulting on a €5bn debt repayment this week as international lenders remained deadlocked over how to reduce its overall debt even as Athens won parliamentary approval for its 2013 austerity budget, the Financial Times reported. The country’s debt management office has announced plans to cover the €5bn debt through a treasury bill auction on Tuesday, but Greek banks expected to buy the issue can only raise about €3.5bn of collateral acceptable to the European Central Bank, according to two senior Athens bankers.

Eurozone leaders face a new round of brinkmanship over Greece’s €174bn bailout after international lenders failed to bridge differences on how to reduce Athens’ burgeoning debt levels, pushing the country perilously close to defaulting on a €5bn debt payment due next week, the Financial Times reported. Officials had hoped to finalise the new programme, which extends Greece’s rescue two years to 2016, at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday. That would free up a long-delayed €31.3bn aid payment desperately sought by Athens.

German exports slid in September at the fastest pace since late last year, hit by declining demand among its crisis-wracked euro zone trading partners, Reuters reported. Imports also fell, adding to evidence that the crisis is inflicting a heavy toll on the currency bloc's largest economy. The trade figures come after a string of disappointing data for Europe's economic powerhouse. Business sentiment has worsened, the private sector has contracted, joblessness has risen and industrial orders have fallen at their sharpest rate in a year.

France and Belgium Thursday agreed to inject a further €5.5 billion ($7 billion) into Dexia SA, putting one of the first European banking casualties of the 2008 financial crisis almost entirely in state hands and adding to the burden of cutting government debt and deficits amid the euro-zone recession, The Wall Street Journal reported. France agreed in the wee hours of the European morning to provide €2.59 billion and Belgium €2.92 billion in exchange for preference shares.

Britain is warning other EU countries that it will block a single eurozone banking supervisor unless those outside the system win more safeguards, as London expresses growing frustration that its demands are being left to last, the Financial Times reported. While David Cameron, the UK prime minister, has said he “does not want to stand in the way” of a eurozone banking union, behind the scenes British diplomats are stepping up calls for urgent progress to be made to resolve their concerns.

Environmental consultancy AEA Technology Group said it plans to appoint administrators for its companies in England and Wales, after failing to resolve debt issues, Reuters reported. AEA - which advises the U.S. Department of Energy, the British government and several companies on climate change and energy issues - said it was unable to assess its financial position and asked for its shares to be suspended from trading.

Greece’s Parliament narrowly passed a crucial austerity bill early Thursday, in a vote that left the coalition government reeling from dissent as it struggles to secure vital bailout funds, The Washington Post reported. The bill, which will further slash pensions and salaries, passed 153-128 in the 300-member Parliament. It came hours after rioters rampaged outside Parliament during an 80,000-strong anti-austerity demonstration, clashing with riot police who responded with tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon.

U.K. bank executives want investors to buy into their vision of the future. But the past keeps catching up with them, The Wall Street Journal reported. During recent results presentations, CEOs of British banks boasted how they had cleaned up their balance sheets, refocused their franchises and cut underperforming business lines. However, most of the headlines were buried in the back of their regulatory filings.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy signalled Tuesday that he is in no hurry to ask for a financial rescue, saying he wants to be certain that activating the euro zone's new bailout mechanism would bring a significant improvement in Spain's borrowing costs, The Wall Street Journal reported. Though most analysts believe Spain will need assistance as it overhauls its ailing economy, the European Central Bank's recent promise of massive government bond purchases for countries seeking bailouts has brought down borrowing costs for Spain and other struggling euro-zone countries.