UK personal insolvency figures are predicted to fall further tomorrow, but experts warned the recent improving trend is likely to hit a turning point soon, with large numbers of people still living on the brink, The Telegraph reported. Charles Turner, vice-president of the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA), expects personal insolvencies to fall further from the four-year low set in the second quarter of this year to around 26,600 in official figures for the third quarter published tomorrow.

British electricals retailer Comet is set to enter into administration next week, the latest household name to fall by the wayside in the consumer downturn. Directors of the struggling company, which employs 6,500 staff in 240 stores, filed a notice on Thursday to a British court, a spokesman confirmed on Thursday. "Comet Group Limited can confirm that it has taken steps to seek the protection of the court with a view to the company entering into administration during week commencing Nov 5," the spokesman said.

Lending to Irish households and businesses fell in the year to the end of September and the European Central Bank has said it expects access to funds to tighten further in the coming months, the Irish Times reported. Figures released by the Central Bank of Ireland yesterday show that loans to Irish households were 3.7 per cent lower in the 12 months to September 30th. The monthly rate of decline was unchanged in September, with an €88 million fall in lending during the month.

The magnitude of Greece’s fiscal challenge was painted in sharp relief on Wednesday as Athens unveiled new budget projections exceeding the worst-case scenarios envisioned by international lenders when they agreed a €174bn rescue eight months ago, the Financial Times reported. Instead of Greece’s debt peaking at 167 per cent of economic output next year, as predicted in the March bailout agreement, it will hit 189 per cent and climb to 192 per cent in 2014, according to projections presented to the Greek parliament.

The number of people out of work in the euro zone climbed to another record high in September, the latest evidence of the damage the region's long-running fiscal crisis is doing to the real economy as governments cut spending to try to control their debts, The Wall Street Journal reported. Eurostat, the European Union's official statistics agency, said Wednesday that 18.49 million people were unemployed in the euro zone in September, after 146,000 more people lost their jobs during the month.

Portugal's government won parliamentary approval Wednesday for an unpopular package of tax increases and spending cuts, keeping its international bailout program on track and avoiding the kind of political crisis that has accompanied Greece's rescue effort, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a further sign of strength for Western Europe's poorest economy, one of its banks managed for the first time in two years to raise cash on the international bond market without government guarantee and without submitting to a direct claim on its assets.

Manganese Bronze Holdings Plc, maker of London's black taxi, said it appointed accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrator as it looks to secure funding after a safety issue led to a product recall and a halt in sales, Reuters reported. "The administrators are reviewing the group's current financial position to develop a range of options to rescue the business or alternatively dispose of its assets to an investor that can secure the future of the London taxi," the company said.

Battle lines hardened over the EU’s next long-term budget as a plan to cut more than €50bn of proposed spending was deemed too meek by the UK and its allies – and rejected as too harsh by the European Commission, the Financial Times reported. The divergent reactions reveal sharp divisions over the budget – to cover roughly €1,000bn in spending from 2014-2020 – that have been exacerbated by a prolonged economic slump. They also hinted at the difficulty of forging a compromise among the 27-member bloc at a two-day summit of EU leaders that begins on November 22 in Brussels.

Greece's coalition government will delay a vote on major new austerity measures by another week, warning Tuesday there would be financial chaos if a deal is not reached, the Associated Press reported. Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told reporters the austerity measures, worth (EURO)13.5 billion ($17.4 billion), would be submitted to parliament next week, as the three parties in government continue to disagree over new savings demanded by international bailout lenders.

Portugal's parliament is expected to approve the biggest tax hikes in its modern democratic history on Wednesday, paving the way for a court fight over a budget the government says it urgently needs to keep a 78-billion euro bailout afloat, Reuters reported. Political tension has been increasing and anti-austerity demonstrations have become more common in recent weeks in Portugal, which despite being one of the countries worst hit by the euro zone crisis had so far escaped unrest seen elsewhere.