Headlines

Consumer prices in Britain rose 9.9 percent in August from a year earlier, a slight easing of the inflation rate and the first decline in nearly a year, signaling that inflation may have reached its peak, or be very near it, the New York Times reported. While this sign of a turnaround in the trajectory of inflation is likely to bring some relief to lawmakers and policymakers, it will provide only limited comfort to consumers.

The French government is lowering the country's 2023 economic growth outlook, but sees no need to revise its budget deficit target as a result, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Growth in the euro zone's second-biggest economy is now expected to slow from an estimated 2.5% this year to 1% next year, down from 1.4% previously, Le Maire told journalists as he outlined the main forecasts underpinning the 2023 budget bill due later this month.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states flush with oil revenue are coming to the rescue of crisis-racked neighbors such as Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey, doubling down on a diplomatic tool they long used to build influence throughout the region, the Wall Street Journal reported. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have pledged more than $22 billion this year to Egypt as the country seeks to stave off default.

The United States on Wednesday announced that it would transfer $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets into a new Swiss-based trust fund that will be shielded from the Taliban and used to help stabilize Afghanistan's collapsed economy, Reuters reported. The Afghan Fund, managed by a board of trustees, could pay for critical imports like electricity, cover debt payments to international financial institutions, protecting Afghanistan's eligibility for development aid, and fund the printing of new currency.

Ukraine expects a budget deficit of $38 billion next year that will be covered mainly by financing from the IMF, the United States and the European Union, Interfax news agency quoted Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal as saying on Wednesday, Reuters reported. War bonds and taxes will also help to cover the deficit, he said, adding that he hoped a new funding programme with the International Monetary Fund would be agreed for next year. Shmyhal said he expected the United States to provide $18 billion and the EU and IMF to contribute $12 billion each towards helping to cover the deficit.

Claimant groups planning multi-million pound lawsuits over a collapsed fund run by former star stock picker Neil Woodford said on Tuesday any redress of around 306 million pounds ($359 million) ordered by Britain's regulator would be too paltry, Reuters reported. Law firm Leigh Day, which represents around 13,000 clients in a lawsuit against Link Fund Solutions (LFS), the administrator of the flagship LF Woodford Equity Income Fund, said the figure was "nowhere near enough" to compensate thousands who had suffered financial losses.

Fossil fuel firms may have to share their excess profits to help European households and industries cope with red-hot energy bills, a draft European Union plan showed on Monday as the cost of the West's "energy war" with Russia took a growing toll, Reuters reported. Energy prices and inflation have surged as Moscow slashed gas supplies in response to Western sanctions imposed over its actions in Ukraine, prompting France to tell consumers they would have to share some of the pain while Britain is among countries facing the threat of recession.

Germany is set to use a fund created to help companies cope with the economic hit from the pandemic to provide loan guarantees for struggling energy firms, Reuters reported. State development bank KfW would oversee the mechanism and the volume of loan guarantees available would be around 67 billion euros ($67.9 billion). Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government is set to approve the plan -- which is designed to help energy companies forced to pay higher prices due to Russian supply cuts -- at a regular cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Germany's outlook has "dramatically worsened" and the economy could stagnate or contract in the second half of the year, an economy ministry report said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. A rising number of companies are going insolvent but there is no "insolvency wave" as such, the report said, adding that Germany's labour market has defied global uncertainties for the time being and demand remains high. Read more.

Chinese authorities have told the nation’s biggest banks and state-owned firms to start a round of checks on their financial exposure to Fosun, one of the country’s largest non-state conglomerates, Bloomberg News reported. Multiple regulators including China’s banking watchdog and the local commission that oversees state investments in Beijing recently told institutions under their oversight to closely examine their Fosun exposure.