Headlines

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has taken on the unenviable task of restoring Britain’s credibility in international markets, said on Wednesday that he would delay the announcement of a major economic plan by two and a half weeks as he seeks more time to make the “right decisions,” the New York Times reported. Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor of the Exchequer, will deliver the fiscal statement on Nov. 17, instead of Monday. The statement is set to lay out spending and tax policies in line with lowering Britain’s debt burden.

The UK government is close to a deal that will see Octopus Energy Ltd. acquire Bulb Energy Ltd., which went bust last November, as soon this week, Bloomberg News reported. Octopus, which already has more than 2 million customers, will become the UK’s third largest energy supplier after adding Bulb’s roughly 1.5 million households. The combined numbers could see it rival the market share of Centrica Plc’s British Gas and EON SE. Bulb collapsed when wholesale prices spiked above the regulator’s price cap, forcing it to sell energy at a loss. The government stepped in and appointed Teneo Inc.

Germany, considered Europe's most reliable debtor, is having trouble selling its bonds, just as it seeks billions to tackle the energy crisis, Reuters reported. Recent weak auctions have demonstrated the challenges of issuing debt in markets racked with uncertainty about interest rates and state spending, and made it harder for Germany - typically a reluctant spender - as it seeks to fund its 200 billion euro ($201.40 billion) scheme to cut domestic energy costs.

The International Monetary Fund reached a preliminary agreement with the Egyptian government Thursday that paves the way for the economically troubled Arab nation to access a $3 billion loan, officials said Thursday, the Associated Press reported. IMF officials said that a staff agreement between the Egyptian government and IMF leaders had been reached following months of talks, as Egypt struggles to combat surging inflation caused, in part, by the war in Ukraine.

Credit Suisse has taken measures to reduce risks and improve its capital situation, Swiss banking supervisor FINMA said on Thursday after the bank unveiled a sweeping overhaul, Reuters reported. "It is clear that FINMA will continue to monitor that all the supervisory requirements are met during the implementation phase of the new strategy," it said in an emailed statement in response to a Reuters query.

Turkish bankers have confronted top officials over rules that saddled them with government bonds and kept rates artificially low, according to people familiar with the matter, warning of massive risks in case monetary policy becomes far less accommodative, Bloomberg News reported. In a recent series of closed-door meetings with key decision makers, bank executives pressed complaints against regulatory measures that forced them to buy government debt, the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions were private.

Germany is preparing for a worst-case scenario in which it needs to double financial aid to Uniper SE, the nation’s biggest gas supplier, to €60 billion, Bloomberg News reported. Uniper’s financial situation is worsening with an expected adjusted net loss of €3.2 billion ($3.2 billion) for the first nine months of the year as it buys more expensive wholesale gas to meet supply contracts after Moscow cut flows. Prices would have to stay high for two years for the shortfall to hit the government’s maximum projection.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is seeking to fill a fiscal shortfall of £35 billion ($41 billion) when he sets out the government’s tax and spending plans next month, officials familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. The government has drawn up a menu of 104 options to cut spending to get public finances back onto a sustainable track, according to the officials, who cited Treasury and Office for Budget Responsibility data from this week.

Despite the increasingly pessimistic economic outlook, numbers of businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber experiencing insolvency-related activity saw a decrease last month, falling by 13.1% in September compared with August 2022 – the second largest drop of any of the regions and nations in the UK, Bdaily.co.uk reported.

UKCloud and its parent Virtual Infrastructure Group have been forced into liquidation, potentially bringing an end to the ailing business, The Register reported. As a British public-sector IT provider, UKCloud had central and local governments, the police, the Ministry of Defence, the NHS, Genomics England, the University of Manchester, and more as clients.