Less than a week after political turmoil roiled France following the collapse of President Emmanuel Macron’s government, Fitch Ratings downgraded France’s sovereign debt rating on Friday, raising questions about the country’s financial stability, the New York Times reported. Fitch lowered the French rating to A+ from AA–, citing an increasingly fractured political landscape and the government’s overall inability to tackle a ballooning debt and deficit that have become among the largest in Europe.

The past two weeks have been dreadful for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and the crisis at the car maker shows no sign of coming to an end, according to a BBC.com report. A cyber attack, which first came to light on 1 September, forced the manufacturer to shut down its computer systems and close production lines worldwide. Its factories in Solihull, Halewood, and Wolverhampton are expected to remain idle until at least Wednesday, as the company continues to assess the damage. JLR is thought to have lost at least £50m so far as a result of the stoppage.

Cryptocurrency groups are urging the Bank of England (BoE) to abandon plans to cap the amount of stablecoins that individuals and businesses can hold in the UK, Decrypt.com reported. “Imposing caps on stablecoins is bad for UK savers, bad for the City and bad for sterling,” Tom Duff Gordon, vice-president of international policy at Coinbase, told the Financial Times. “No other major jurisdiction has deemed it necessary to impose caps.” The pushback comes following an FT report that BoE officials plan to continue pursuing the implementation of a 2023 BoE consultation paper on stablecoins.

Russia’s government is preparing a moratorium on bankruptcies in the metals sector to support heavily indebted companies hit by sanctions and high borrowing costs, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday, citing draft measures by the economy and industry ministries, The Moscow Times reported. Analysts told the newspaper that the proposal is aimed primarily at coal and steel producer Mechel, which is controlled by Igor Zyuzin.

Russia’s central bank lowered its key interest rate for a third straight meeting as the economy and inflation slowed following two years of rapid expansion driven by government spending on the war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Russia cut its key rate to 17% from 18% on Friday, having lowered borrowing costs in early June for the first time since 2022 and followed that up with a July cut. However, investors had expected a larger trim to 16%. “The economy continues to return to a balanced growth path. Lending growth has accelerated in recent months.

European Central Bank policymakers were keeping their options open on Friday about possible future interest rate cuts, flagging an uncertain outlook for trade, energy prices and foreign exchange rates, Reuters reported. The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday and maintained an upbeat view on growth and inflation, leading traders to cut their expectations for any further reductions in borrowing costs.

The number of German business insolvencies registered in the first half of the year jumped 12.2% from a year earlier, the statistics office said on Thursday, highlighting the challenges for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government in its efforts to revive economic growth, Reuters reported. Final results showed that local courts registered a total of 12,009 insolvencies in the first six months of 2025.

Shropshire Council leaders have pledged to do "all that they can" to avoid running out of money by April, BBC.com reported. A report presented to the authority's cabinet on Wednesday showed it must make urgent savings to avoid going over budget by £35.2m this financial year - £889,000 of which can't be funded using its reserves or by other means. Members voted unanimously "with a heavy heart" to declare a "financial emergency" and outlined measures to be put into place to secure tighter control over all aspects of spending.