Headlines

Britain's economy faces stagnation next year and could easily fall into recession, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned on Monday after it slashed its outlook for growth due to surging inflation, Reuters reported. The CBI is the third major body to cut its growth forecasts for Britain in the past week, following a downgrade from the British Chambers of Commerce and a warning from the OECD that Britain had the weakest outlook of any major economy bar Russia. "Let me be clear – we're expecting the economy to be pretty much stagnant. It won't take much to tip us into a recession.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck plans to present concrete proposals to tighten the nation's antitrust laws and give the Federal Cartel Office more powers, according to a position paper circulated by his ministry on Sunday, Reuters reported. The move comes amid his concerns that energy companies are not passing on to consumers a recent cut in tax on fuel that was enacted to help offset soaring inflation. The ministry foresees reducing hurdles to confiscate profits and giving the cartel office additional powers to intervene, according to the document dated June 11.

Turkey's government is considering pushing a supplementary budget through parliament before a recess next month in order to cover possible summer payments and the rising costs of a lira slide and rampant inflation. Two sources told Reuters that work on the extra budget was being conducted, but no final decision has been made on whether it will be needed. The decision comes as President Tayyip Erdogan faces tough elections by mid-2023, and his approval ratings have been hit by 73% annual inflation that has sent food and gas prices soaring.

Consumer cutbacks due to raging inflation and higher borrowing costs are failing to dent investment plans at Indian businesses tapping the country’s biggest lender, a sign that a recovery in Asia’s third-largest economy is gathering pace, Bloomberg News reported. Companies are steadily drawing down from a $71 billion loan pipeline, Dinesh Kumar Khara, chairman of State Bank of India, told Bloomberg News in an interview at his Mumbai office.

Bank of Mexico Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath said on Friday that the central bank is likely to raise its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points at its next meeting scheduled for June 23, according to local media, Reuters reported. "Obviously we have to vote ... In my personal opinion, there will be a majority and we're going to see an increase of 75 base points," Heath said during a forum in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo organized by Mexico's Stock Exchange.

Mexican airline Grupo Aeromexico will propose leaving the country's main stock exchange to shareholders in a meeting scheduled at the end of June, the carrier said in a statement Friday, Reuters reported. Aeromexico came out of chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. Read more.

Credit Suisse Group AG won the green light to pursue its court battle against companies controlled by Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, in a dispute over more than a billion dollars in debts to the bank, Bloomberg News reported. A London judge said that the Swiss lender’s attempt to wind up three of Gupta’s firms can proceed, saying the GFG companies couldn’t rely on rules designed to protect companies during the coronavirus pandemic. “The demands made on the companies over a year ago have not been met,” Judge Nicholas Briggs said in his ruling.

The European Central Bank will enter a new era on Thursday, as policymakers are set to confirm just how soon its bond-buying program will end and reaffirm plans to raise interest rates over the summer for the first time in more than a decade, the New York Times reported. Across the eurozone, inflation has outpaced economists’ expectations: The annual rate of price increases climbed to 8.1 percent in May, the highest since the creation of the euro currency in 1999.

China's exports grew at a double-digit pace in May, shattering expectations in an encouraging sign for the world's second biggest economy, as factories restarted and logistics snags eased after authorities relaxed some COVID curbs in Shanghai, Reuters reported. Imports also expanded for the first time in three months, providing welcome relief to Chinese policy makers as they try to chart an economic path out of the supply-side shock that has rocked global trade and financial markets in recent months.

Argentina's benchmark interest rate is likely to be hiked another 200 basis points next week, analysts polled by Reuters estimated, as the central bank seeks to counter soaring and painful inflation that could top 70% this year, Reuters reported. The survey of seven analysts and traders indicated the bank would likely hike the rate to 51% from its current level of 49%, according to a median of the responses. The estimates ranged from no change to a steepest hike of 350 basis points.