Headlines

Yorkshire and the Humber saw a significant rise in insolvency activity in February, UK.News.Yahoo.com reported. Research from the UK's insolvency trade body, R3, indicates a 39 per cent increase. Despite this, new business start-ups in the region rose by 0.2 per cent, the only increase in England.

Euro-area inflation slowed more than initially reported in February, strengthening arguments for the European Central Bank to keep cutting interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose an annual 2.3% — less than the 2.4% Eurostat first flagged. Wednesday’s revision follows an unexpected drop in Germany’s inflation rate. With the outlook for economic expansion and inflation in Europe clouded by uncertainty, ECB officials debating whether to pause or lower borrowing costs again next month may be tempted to focus on the clear progress in reaching their 2% target.

Ireland’s economy would suffer a significant blow and could even risk recession if U.S. President Trump targeted the country with higher tariffs or changed tax rules, the Central Bank of Ireland said Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a quarterly report, the central bank lowered its growth forecasts for this year and next, citing the impact of uncertainty about Trump’s future actions on investment and exports. It now expects gross domestic product to grow by 4% in both 2025 and 2026, having previously forecast an expansion of 4.2% this year and 4.5% next.

The Bank of France reported a widening loss in 2024 after booking one-off gains the previous year and as it continues to digest rapid changes in the European Central Bank’s monetary policy in recent years, Bloomberg News reported. Like other central banks in the euro-area network, France’s is squeezed between servicing deposits at the high interest rates imposed on the economy to fight inflation and only small income flows from bonds purchased when borrowing costs were low.

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady on Wednesday and warned of heightening global economic uncertainty, suggesting the timing of further rate hikes will depend largely on the fallout from potentially higher U.S. tariffs, Reuters reported. But Governor Kazuo Ueda also said rising food costs and stronger-than-expected wage growth could push up underlying inflation, highlighting the central bank's attention to mounting domestic price pressures. "Japan's wage and price conditions are on track, possibly stronger than expected. But the uncertain U.S.

Indonesia’s central bank held interest rates steady again as volatility in local markets and the rupiah make the case for policymakers to tread cautiously, even as they continue to leave the door open to cuts, the Wall Street Journal reported. Domestic unease and heightened uncertainty abroad had economists divided on what Bank Indonesia would do ahead of its decision to keep the benchmark seven-day reverse repo rate at 5.75% on Wednesday.

The U.S. mission told China and Canada it was ready to confer with its officials in Geneva after those two countries filed trade disputes in response to new tariffs, World Trade Organization documents showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Canada requested consultations - the first step in a WTO trade dispute - earlier this month in response to "unjustified tariffs" imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month. China launched a dispute after Trump tariffs on Chinese goods in February.

Political pressure is mounting over a plan by a Hong Kong conglomerate to sell its Panama ports to BlackRock, the American investor, raising questions about the future of the $19 billion deal, the New York Times reported.

Brazil's government on Tuesday unveiled a long-promised plan to exempt individuals earning up to 5,000 reais ($881.27) per month from income tax, with the revenue gap set to be covered by new levies on high earners and profits and dividends sent abroad, Reuters reported. The proposal, initially announced late last year when it triggered a negative market reaction over fiscal concerns, was one of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's key campaign promises, and is now seen as crucial for the president to regain popularity amid declining approval ratings.