The Bank of England's decision to hold its policy interest rate steady on Thursday puts the world's three major central banks in a "higher-for-longer" holding pattern the length of which will hinge on how inflation behaves, the strength of U.S. growth and the depth of developing slowdowns in Europe and the UK, and whether bond markets sustain the higher borrowing costs that have attracted notice on both sides of the Atlantic, Reuters reported.

For over a century, the Panama Canal has provided a convenient way for ships to move between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, helping to speed up international trade. But a drought has left the canal without enough water, which is used to raise and lower ships, forcing officials to slash the number of vessels they allow through. That has created expensive headaches for shipping companies and raised difficult questions about water use in Panama, the New York Times reported. The passage of one ship is estimated to consume as much water as half a million Panamanians use in one day.

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday that she was cautiously optimistic about settling a dispute with the United States about Ottawa's planned digital services tax (DST) on large technology companies, Reuters reported. The digital services plan aims to address the challenge of taxing digital giants like Alphabet and Amazon.com that can book their profits in low-tax countries. The U.S. government has repeatedly objected to the planned Canadian tax. Washington says it unfairly singles out U.S. firms, and urged Ottawa to scrap the plan.

The Bank of Canada's monetary policy is working to cool the economy and relieve price pressures, but the central bank is prepared to raise interest rates further if inflation persists, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Monday, Reuters reported. "We held our policy rate steady (last week) because monetary policy is working to cool the economy and relieve price pressures, and we want to give it time to do its job," Macklem told the finance committee in the House of Commons.

Petroleos Mexicanos’ losses deepened and production dropped, complicating the oil explorer’s efforts to whittle down its hefty debt burden, Bloomberg News reported. Pemex’s net loss widened to 79.13 billion pesos ($4.4 billion) from 25.44 billion pesos in the prior period, the company reported Friday, the worst result since the end of 2022. Crude and condensate production fell to 1.85 million barrels a day from 1.88 million in the second quarter. Light crude production fell by 83,000 barrels a day from a year ago, while condensate rose by 192,000 barrels a day.

Mexico's economy, the second biggest in Latin America, could expand by 3.5% or more this year, a senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday, as one central banker flagged a "long battle ahead" to better corral creeping consumer prices, Reuters reported. In testimony before lawmakers, Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio talked up the expected expansion of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and largely dismissed concerns that the gaining value of the local currency was bad for shipments to foreign markets.

Canada's central bank on Wednesday highlighted stress building in customers with auto loans, while saying mortgage owners largely coped from a record pace in interest rate increases which has squeezed household budgets, Reuters reported. In its quarterly Monetary Policy Report released on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada said indicators of financial stress point mainly to non-mortgage holders, without giving details.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) may not have to raise its key overnight rate further if inflation cools in line with the central bank's expectations, Governor Tiff Macklem said, Reuters reported. "The economy is not overheated anymore and ... we do think there's more inflation relief in the pipeline, and if that comes through, we won't have to raise rates further," Macklem said. The BoC on Wednesday held its key overnight rate at a 22-year high of 5.0% but left the door open to more hikes, saying price risks were on the rise and inflation could exceed its target for another two years.

The Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5 per cent on Wednesday amid increasing signs that rate hikes are weighing on the Canadian economy, but it left the door open to further hikes over concerns about stubborn inflation, YahooFinance.com reported. Economists had widely expected the central bank to leave its rate steady as the economy slows and inflation eases.