Irish government spending is accelerating at an unsustainable rate, and overruns in day-to-day spending are likely to top €2.5 billion by year end, the budgetary watchdog has warned, the Irish Times reported. In a prebudget statement the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) said spending overruns were more broad-based this year than in the previous years, with expenditure across education, children and justice already up by 7.5 per cent against a targeted increase of 2.5 per cent.

A Quebec Superior Court judge has declared the North American branch of battery manufacturer Northvolt insolvent as the provincial government seeks to recover $260 million owed to it, CBC.ca reported. Justice Janet Michelin on Friday placed Northvolt Batteries North America under creditor protection following a request earlier in the week from the province.

Italy was once Europe’s emblem for political instability, with a mounting debt and deficit and few options to fix the mess. Now, it’s France’s turn, and the situation is about to get worse, the New York Times reported. On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is expected to fall for the second time in just nine months after a confidence vote in Parliament. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, called a vote to shore up support for his plan to mend the country’s finances with 44 billion euros (a little over $51 billion) in spending cuts.

This past week, U.K. long-term borrowing costs hit their highest level in decades, causing Treasury chief Rachel Reeves to shoot down suggestions that the heavily indebted country is heading for a fiscal crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. Most economists agree with her—for now. But in a world where industrialized nations have taken on record amounts of debt and are paying ever more to finance the borrowing, the U.K. could become the financial markets’ equivalent of the proverbial canary in the coal mine—a leading indicator of trouble for other debtors like the U.S.

German industrial production rebounded in July despite a further plunge in exports to the U.S., indicating the sector’s resilience in the face of tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial output in Europe’s largest economy jumped 1.3% on month, the first rise since March, while June’s data was also revised upward to a decline of just 0.1% from the 1.9% slump originally reported, according to Germany’s statistics agency Destatis on Monday.

Swedbank on Saturday said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has closed its investigation into the bank without enforcement, Reuters reported. The investigation was initiated in 2019 and concerned Swedbank's historic disclosures of information, the company said. In 2019, Swedbank admitted to failings in combating money laundering and said it was under investigation by multiple U.S. authorities.

Workers at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe voted to approve a sweeping restructuring plan, setting the stage for the revival of Germany's largest steelmaker, contingent on Thyssenkrupp AG's commitment to finance the initiative, Reuters reported. The IG Metall union said on Friday that 77% of participating members supported the plan, with 62% turnout in the vote held from July 21 to September 4. The restructuring programme includes cuts to jobs, working hours, and bonus payments, as well as site closures, but avoids forced redundancies until 2030.

The eurozone economy grew marginally over the three months through June, figures confirmed Friday, leaving the European Central Bank unlikely to cut its key interest rate next week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Across the 20 nations that share the euro, gross domestic product was 0.1% higher than the first quarter, in line with previous estimates. That marks a sharp slowdown from the 0.6% expansion recorded over the first three months of the year. The slowdown was driven by the currency area’s largest member, Germany.

Northvolt buyer Lyten said yesterday that it had appointed the last chief operating officer of the bankrupt Swedish battery maker as the new CEO of Lyten Sweden, and also recruited several other former executives of the failed company, Reuters reported. Silicon Valley-based startup Lyten, which develops lithium-sulfur batteries, unexpectedly announced last month that it was buying Northvolt's assets, offering a lifeline to future European battery production for electric vehicles.

Swiss annual inflation held at a low level in August, keeping the country’s central bank on guard as it considers cutting its key interest rate to below zero later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 0.2% higher than the same month of last year, matching July’s rate, Switzerland’s statistics office said Thursday. That remains within the Swiss National Bank’s target of positive inflation lower than 2%. The SNB meets later in September, with most investors currently expecting it to hold its key rate at 0%.