Headlines

The German economy is expected to grow this year following two consecutive years of contraction, four economic institutes said on Thursday, raising their forecasts for 2025 and 2026, Reuters reported. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) raised its forecast to 0.3% growth from the stagnation it had previously envisaged due to a better-than-expected first quarter, when the economy grew by 0.4%. "The German economy is seeing some light at the end of the tunnel," the economists said in their new forecasts.

Beleaguered Sydney home builder J+CG: Building & Construction Company has entered administration, owing tens of millions to both creditors and customers due to alleged building defects, SkyNews Australia reported. The family-owned company began operations in 1994, and constructed multi-storey apartment buildings, office complexes and commercial and retail spaces.

Canada recorded a 10% increase in insolvency filings in April compared to the previous month, reversing a trend of easing that began earlier in the year, MPAMag.com reported. The latest data from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada show that both consumer and business insolvencies contributed to the rise, with total filings reaching 11,950, up from 10,864 in March. The increase occurred during a period of economic uncertainty tied to slowing growth, trade policy concerns, and persistent cost-of-living pressures.

Romania’s competition authority said it has approved the notified acquisition of local wood processing company ZG Timber Sebes by Austrian wood-based panel manufacturer Kronospan Holdings, SeeNews.com reported. The Competition Council found no significant concerns regarding the effect of the transaction on competition within the Romanian market, it said in a statement on Friday. ZG Timber Sebes produces timber and pellets at a plant in the central city of Sebes, Alba county.

The U.S. and China agreed to a preliminary plan to ease trade tensions, which could revive the flow of sensitive goods between the world’s two largest economies, Bloomberg News reported. American and Chinese negotiators in London said both sides agreed on a framework on how to implement the consensus the two sides reached in the prior round of talks in Geneva. The U.S. and Chinese delegations will now take the proposal back to their respective leaders, according to China’s chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang. While full details of the pact weren’t immediately available, U.S.

Bank of Japan officials are ramping up calls to keep pace with rapid developments around digital currencies that may accelerate a shift to cashless payments in a country better known for its belief that "cash is king," Reuters reported. Once seen as a society favouring physical currency, Japan saw the ratio of cashless payments rise to 42.8% in 2024, up from 13.2% in 2010 and hitting the government's 40% goal a year earlier than targeted, government data showed.

The European Central Bank’s most recent rate cut will help ensure that inflation doesn’t settle below its 2% target, Chief Economist Philip Lane said on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB last week lowered its key interest rate for the eighth time since June 2024 after figures showed the annual rate of inflation fell to 1.9% in May.

Mexico's central bank may pause cuts to its benchmark interest rate in the face of an inflationary rebound, deputy governor Jonathan Heath said in an interview with local newspaper El Economista published on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Mexico's annual inflation rate accelerated in May and exceeded the upper-end of the central bank's target range of 3% plus or minus one percentage point. "We expect this small rebound to be temporary and inflation to resume its downward trajectory in the coming months", Heath said.

UBS finance chief Todd Tuckner voiced his disappointment on Wednesday over proposed new Swiss capital regulations, which he said was the beginning of a possibly long process that the bank intends to contribute to, Reuters reported. "Naturally, as to capital, we're disappointed," Tuckner said at a conference in Berlin, speaking days after the Swiss government proposed rules that could make the country's remaining big bank hold $26 billion more in core capital. "We are looking at every possible option to potentially mitigate the imposition of these extreme capital measures," he added.

Institutional investment in residential real estate in Ireland fell by 80 per cent in 2023 and 2024, according to the Central Bank, the Irish Times reported. “Inward capital flows and equity financing for new residential development have fallen markedly,” the bank’s director of financial stability Mark Cassidy said at the launch of the regulator’s latest Financial Stability Review. Changes to the global financial system from higher interest rates and increased uncertainty were of particular concern to the residential rental sector here, he said.