The European Central Bank cut interest rates again on Thursday as inflation slows and economic growth falters, but provided almost no clues about its next step, even as investors bet on steady policy easing in the months ahead, Reuters reported. The ECB cut its deposit rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.50%, as expected, following a similar cut in June, as inflation is now within striking distance of its 2% target and the domestic economy skirts a recession. Read more.

Several European Union nations intend to challenge International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva about the Washington-based lender’s plan to engage with Russia on economic issues for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. At a meeting of EU envoys Wednesday, France, Belgium and Poland, as well as several Baltic and Nordic nations, said they were surprised by the IMF’s decision earlier this month to restart annual economic reviews with Moscow.

Germany saw a 10.7% increase in insolvencies in August compared to a year earlier, the federal statistics office reported on Wednesday, adding to data that show persistent difficulties for companies in Europe's largest economy, Reuters reported. The growth rate in insolvencies has been in double-digit territory since June 2023, with the exception of June 2024, when the year-on-year increase eased briefly to 6.3%, the office said. In the first half of 2024, German courts reported 10,702 corporate insolvencies, up 24.9% year on year, according to final data.

Britain's shift towards a services-dominated economy is accelerating, pushing manufacturing's share of economic output to a historic low and setting the nation apart from its global peers, Reuters reported. Recent data show the make-up of the world's sixth-biggest economy is changing fast, driven by global trends but also domestic factors such as Brexit and increasingly London-centric growth.

Hosting the Olympic Games gave a boost to France's service sector in August but the country's political crisis still clouds the economic outlook, the central bank said on Tuesday in its monthly business survey, Reuters reported. The euro zone's second-biggest economy is on course for underlying growth of 0.1-0.2% in the third quarter from the previous month, the Bank of France said, leaving its estimate unchanged. The Olympics could add another quarter percentage point of growth as the Games increased activity in hospitality, event management and security, particularly in the Paris region.

Europe must increase public investment by nearly $900 billion a year in sectors like technology and defense, according to a long-awaited report published Monday in response to growing anxieties about the continental economy’s lagging behind that of the United States and China, the New York Times reported. The challenge for the European Union is “existential,” Mario Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, said on Monday in Brussels.

Alternative asset manager Balbec Capital Management has bought a portfolio worth over €4 billion ($4.4 billion) of soured Portuguese loans from Luxembourg-based LX Partners, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg News. The portfolio has more than 300,000 restructured and non-performing loans, and its purchase is one of the largest such loan transactions in recent years, Balbec said. It’s one of the biggest portfolio purchases of non-performing loans for the firm since it was founded in 2010.

Air Belgium (KF) is nearing bankruptcy again, as a court in Nivelles has granted the airline a two-week extension to secure new financial backing, AirwaysMag.com reported. After almost a year of creditor protection, the airline has faced a significant drop in revenue—down 40%—following its cessation of passenger flights. The company is grappling with an annual loss of €22 million and a negative equity of €69 million, requiring at least €18 million in funding to avoid collapse.

British supermarket chain Asda Group Ltd. is set to face a crucial stage in its equal pay fight with workers in what could form the tip of an £8 billion ($10.6 billion) iceberg of claims against the biggest U.K. retailers, Bloomberg News reported. Just days after a recent victory for Next Plc employees, a hearing at Manchester’s employment tribunal on Monday will decide whether the jobs of more than 60,000 Asda retail workers, who are mostly women and paid lower hourly rates, were of equal value to the disproportionately male warehouse staff.

Germany hammered out a deal that offers a potential lifeline for struggling shipbuilder Meyer Werft GmbH, the privately-held company that recently won a follow-on contract to supply vessels for Disney Cruise Line’s fleet, Bloomberg News reported. The federal government will acquire a 40% stake in Meyer Werft along with “a stake of the same amount by the state of Lower Saxony,” according to Economy Ministry officials. The financing for the federal government amounts to around €200 million.