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The European Union is preparing to step into its energy market, intervening in the short term to dampen soaring power costs as the continent braces for the economic hit of energy shortages this winter, Bloomberg News reported. The European Union is preparing to step into its energy market, intervening in the short term to dampen soaring power costs as the continent braces for the economic hit of energy shortages this winter.

The UK government’s £400 payment to help households with surging energy bills could be about to shake inflation markets and the nation’s stretched finances, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. The Office for National Statistics will announce Wednesday whether the £12 billion ($14 billion) in aid, which will be spread over six months, should be considered an income adjustment or a price adjustment. If the latter, that will ease official inflation figures in the coming months.

British credit card borrowing grew at the fastest pace since 2005 in the 12 months to July, Bank of England data showed on Tuesday, in a potential sign that some households are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living soars, Reuters reported. Credit card borrowing rose by a net 740 million pounds ($869 million) on the month, down from a 945 million-pound increase in June but 13% higher than the year before, the biggest annual increase since October 2005. The average interest rate on credit card borrowing rose to 21.7% in July, the highest since late 1998, the data showed.

German inflation accelerated to the most since the euro was introduced on soaring energy prices, bolstering calls for a jumbo interest-rate increase when the European Central Bank meets next week, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices in Europe’s biggest economy, calculated under European Union harmonized standards, jumped 8.8% from a year ago in August, matching the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne urged businesses to cut energy use or face possible rationing this winter if Russia halts gas deliveries, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s urgent to stop any energy consumption that isn’t indispensable immediately,” Borne said on Monday in a speech to business leaders at a conference near Paris. If not “there could be brutal gas outages overnight and serious economic and social consequences,” she said, adding that “companies would be the first hit” by any rationing.

August 31 China Evergrande Bondholders Push Own Plan for Debt Restructuring Global funds that invested in China Evergrande Group's bonds have come up with their own debt restructuring plan for the property developer and demanded that its chair repay liabilities with his own fortune, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, according to Reuters. With more than $300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande, once China's top-selling developer, has been at the centre of the crisis and its debt restructuring plan is seen as a possible template for others.

German energy giant Uniper SE is seeking to extend a government credit line to 13 billion euros ($13 billion) in the latest sign of how Europe’s energy crisis is getting worse, Bloomberg News reported. The utility has requested an additional 4 billion euros from Germany’s state-owned lender KfW after fully using its existing 9 billion-euro credit line, Uniper said in a statement on Monday. The additional funding request is about double the Dusseldorf-based company’s current market value.

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s third-largest bank by assets, said it’s facing 1.23 billion yuan ($178 million) in overdue loans, nearly double a previous estimate, from a mortgage boycott on unfinished projects that has swept the country, Bloomberg News reported. After reporting a small gain in earnings on Monday, the Beijing-based lender revealed that the overdue loans are linked to 1,112 projects. It had previously estimated 660 million yuan in loans were affected by the unprecedented protests.

Shares in China’s privately run banks have fallen sharply this year, as the country’s property slowdown starts to bite, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Shanghai-listed shares of China Merchants Bank and Ping An Bank Co.—two of China’s biggest, most prominent privately run lenders—have fallen by 32% and 25%, respectively, since the start of 2022, wiping $68 billion off their combined stock market value. The selloff is just the latest indication of the problems a slowdown in the property sector is having on the wider economy.

Authorities in central China on Monday announced the arrests of 234 people involved in a scam to bilk people out of their savings with the false promise of high interest rates on deposits in obscure rural banks, the Associated Press reported. The scandal drew national attention after investors seeking answers about where their money went were prevented from reaching the Henan provincial capital of Zhengzhou when the health status displayed on their mandatory COVID-19 cellphone apps was suddenly changed to red, preventing them from traveling.