Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's eight months in power have been tumultuous from the start but September and October may be even tougher, with the Spanish leader assailed on all sides, Reuters reported. Internationally he is caught between diverging pressures from Germany and France, and at home he faces protests over spending cuts sought by the euro zone's big powers. France wants Rajoy to request an international bailout to prop up Spanish finances and stop the debt crisis deepening.

Stricken Polish builder PBG is seeking a 200 million zlotys ($60 million) loan from state-controlled industry development agency ARP, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Tuesday, as the company battles to stay in business, Reuters reported. "We will amend our motion to ARP by the end of this week," state agency PAP quoted Wieslaw Rozacki as saying.

Investors in about 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA’s junior debt face a more than even-money chance of suffering losses as bad loans pile up at the world’s oldest bank, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The cost of insuring 10 million euros of the lender’s subordinated debt is 2.75 million euros in advance and 500,000 euros a year, signaling an almost 60 percent probability of default, according to data provider CMA. That’s up from 1.7 million euros upfront on Jan.

The French government has agreed to rescue Crédit Immobilier de France (CIF), after conceding defeat in attempts to find a buyer for the struggling mortgage provider, the Irish Times reported. CIF, which lends mainly to poor households, has been badly hit by a reduced flow of funding from credit markets and tighter rules on capital requirements for banks. It had been up for sale for a number of months but its fate appeared to be sealed last week when Moody’s cut its credit rating, saying it was in effect locked out of capital markets.

Spain’s prime minister is urging the European Central Bank to go ahead with a bond-buying program aimed at lowering the borrowing costs of debt-ridden governments like his own, saying in comments published Sunday that eurozone state financing rates need to be similar for the currency union to function, The Washington Post reported on an Associated Press story. The ECB holds a meeting Sept.

IBEC, the group which represents businesses and employers, has called on the Government to allow individuals to access certain classes of pensions earlier than scheduled as a “once-off crisis response” measure, the Irish Times reported. Noting the success of similar schemes in countries such as Denmark and Iceland, Ibec said such a measure would provide a domestic economic stimulus of €1.8 billion.

Despite complaints from insolvency practitioners that staff and budget cuts at the Insolvency Service are allowing unscrupulous directors to escape justice, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills shelved an initiative to streamline the process for reporting misconduct, The Telegraph reported. The Government said a drive to reduce red tape for the smallest companies was behind the decision.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy delayed seeking a second rescue for Spain while pledging to continue bailing out its regions as Valencia requested more money to settle bills and cover debt, Bloomberg reported. Rajoy spoke today following a meeting in Madrid with French President Francois Hollande. Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia this week claimed more than half of an 18 billion-euro ($23 billion) fund announced by Rajoy last month to help the regions face bond redemptions and finance their deficits in the second half.

China pledged to continue to buy European bonds in a bid to help the euro zone resolve its debt crisis, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday after meeting with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, underscoring Europe's growing importance to the Chinese economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. But Mr. Wen stopped short of concrete pledges and noted that China's purchases would require "fully evaluating risk," suggesting that meaningful aid still can't be assured. Mr. Wen expressed worries over Europe's debt troubles at a news conference jointly held with Ms.

Residential property prices nationally fell by 13.6 per cent in the year to July but rose by 0.2 per cent in the month, new figures show, the Irish Times reported. This compares with an annual rate of decline of 14.4 per cent in June and a decline of 12. 5 per cent in the 12 months to July of last year. The slight rise in prices in the month of July compares with a drop of 1.1 per cent in June and a decline of 0.8 per cent in July 2011, according to the Residential Property Price Index published by the Central Statistics Office.