Headlines

The Bank of England on Thursday raised its key interest rate for the 14th time in a row and said it may do so again as it tries to cool the fastest rise in consumer prices in the Group of Seven advanced democracies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K.’s central bank increased its bank rate to 5.25% from 5%, lifting it to its highest level since February 2008 and matching recent moves by both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

China's central bank governor pledged on Thursday to guide more financial resources towards the private economy, suggesting refreshed urgency from Beijing to bolster the confidence among private firms as economic momentum weakens, Reuters reported. During a meeting on Thursday with at least eight private firms from sectors including property, aluminium and agribusiness, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng said the bank would roll out guidelines to support private firms.

Banks from four Arab countries are interested in investing in Lebanon’s struggling banking sector, which was hard-hit by the small nation’s three-year economic meltdown, a top Arab banker said Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Lebanon is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in its short and troubled history that has skyrocketed poverty and inflation, and crippled its bloated public sector and infrastructure.

European Union banks' plans for surviving a major crisis without having to tap central bank money will undergo intense scrutiny next year, the bloc's banking watchdog said, Reuters reported. The need for credible options was reinforced after the Swiss central bank stepped in with a liquidity backstop for Credit Suisse in March, before it was taken over by rival UBS.

The downturn in euro zone business activity worsened more than initially thought in July as the slump in manufacturing was accompanied by a further slowing of growth in the bloc's dominant services industry, a survey showed, Reuters reported. HCOB's final Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, dropped to an eight-month low of 48.6 in July from June's 49.9. That was below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction for a second straight month and shy of a preliminary estimate for 48.9.

Thousands of jobs are at risk at Wilko Ltd. after the British low-cost retailer signaled it was at risk of insolvency proceedings due to “mounting cash pressures,” Bloomberg News reported. The privately-owned chain, which sells everything from stationery to hardware, has filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators at the UK’s High Court, following weeks hunting for a rescue deal. Wilko, which has 400 shops and employs about 12,000 people, started from a single hardware store in 1930.

VanMoof, the Dutch e-bike maker that gained a zealous following, tripled its sales in the pandemic and raised more than $180 million in funding, declared bankruptcy last month, leaving riders in limbo, the New York Times reported. That’s because the eye-catching e-bikes, which start around $2,000, are built from proprietary parts that only the company makes, available mostly at company-run service centers. And many of the bikes’ functions are linked to VanMoof’s smartphone app.

Robert Bull, the majority owner of British bungalow giant RoyaleLife, saw his public profile reach new heights this year when he entered The Sunday Times Rich List for the first time. In a piece to accompany his entry, Bull, 46, told of how he had become bankrupt in 2016, but had since recovered to build a £4-billion ($5.1 billion) business that specializes in selling pre-fabricated dwellings to over-45s. His net worth was estimated by The Sunday Times at around £1.9 billion. The actions of an alleged gangster could threaten all of that.

South American trade bloc Mercosur officials met on Tuesday to agree on their counterproposal to a European Union addendum on a long-awaited trade deal before meeting with EU negotiators in August in the hopes of closing the accord by year-end, Brazilian diplomats told Reuters. The four-nation Mercosur will seek to unify its positions on Wednesday and Thursday to respond to the EU on environmental additions the European body made to the trade deal, said Brazil's foreign ministry, where the talks are being held.

The wage law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria on Wednesday said it has filed more than 1,000 charges against top grocer Woolworths Group (WOW.AX), alleging failure to pay A$1 million ($659,000) in long-service leave to over 1,200 former employees, Reuters reported. The Wage Inspectorate Victoria (WIV) said that between 2018 and 2021, Woolworths did not pay more than A$960,000 in long-service leave entitlements to 1,199 former employees.