Europe

Germany’s inflation eases to 2.5 percent in June, paving way for ECB rate cut

Inflation in Europe's largest economy had already slackened to 2.3 percent in March, its lowest level since June 2021

Germany’s renewable energy share reaches 58 percent in first half of 2024

Photovoltaic systems generated more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in one month for the very first time in June

Germany’s unemployment rate rises to 6 percent in June

Unemployment in Germany rose to 2.727 million individuals in June, a monthly increase of 4,000

Denmark to introduce first-ever carbon tax on agriculture

The deal calls for taxing farmers 300 Danish crowns ($43.16) per ton of CO2 in 2030, increasing to 750 crowns by 2035

Spain’s GDP expands 2.5 percent annually in Q1 2024, exceeding initial estimates

GDP grew by 0.8 percent sequentially, a faster pace than the 0.7 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2023

ECB may cut interest rates twice more this year, to reach as low as 2.25 percent in 2025

While the ECB must ensure inflation returns to 2 percent, it shouldn’t overly dampen economic activity with interest rate cuts

Eurozone business recovery slows in June as activity hits 3-month low: PMI

After hitting a 27-month high in May, business confidence across the eurozone declined in June

U.K. public debt rises to $3.47 trillion in May, highest since 1961

Borrowing in the U.K. reached 33.5 billion pounds in the first two months of the financial year

Oracle to invest over $1 billion in AI and cloud computing in Spain

Madrid is expected to receive investments of more than 6 billion euros from the cloud industry in the next three years

Amazon invests $10.75 billion in Germany to expand cloud and logistics services

AWS also announced last month plans to invest €7.8 billion in the AWS European Sovereign Cloud from 2024 to 2040

Swiss National Bank lowers key interest rate to 1.25 percent in second round of rate cuts

The SNB now expects inflation to be 1.3 percent in 2024, 1.1 percent in 2025, and 1 percent in 2026.

U.K. inflation reaches central bank’s 2 percent target: Will policymakers respond with rate cuts?

This marks the lowest annual increase in the consumer price index since mid-2021, in line with analysts' forecasts

EU to impose up to 38 percent in tariffs on Chinese battery electric vehicles

The EU will start applying provisional tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles by July 4

ECB shouldn’t rush or delay future interest rate cuts: Bank of France governor

France central bank governor calls on governments and regulators to boost capital markets union to help close investment gap

EU tourism sector surges with 7 percent increase in overnight stays in Q1 2024

Foreign visitors accounted for around 45 percent of all overnight stays in the EU

ECB cuts interest rates for the first time since 2019, down to 3.75 percent from 4 percent

Eurosystem staff now see headline inflation averaging 2.5 percent in 2024, 2.2 percent in 2025, and 1.9 percent in 2026

Why the European economy is not fully out of the woods yet

GDP growth rate is matching that of the US, but long-term structural problems need to be addressed

Eurozone manufacturing production declines at slowest extent in over a year, says PMI

Greece retained the top rank despite growth declining to a four-month low

Microsoft to invest $3.2 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure expansion in Sweden

The tech giant plans to deploy 20,000 advanced GPUs at its Swedish data centers

Eurozone inflation hits 2.6 percent in May, services inflation reaches 7-month high of 4.1 percent

Until this month, Eurozone inflation had been steadily declining towards the ECB's 2 percent target

EU natural gas demand declines by 7.4 percent in 2023

EU recorded the largest jump in demand in Finland with a 25.6 percent increase

Germany’s business sentiment stagnates in May amid manufacturing, trade recovery

Despite positive outlook, companies were less satisfied with their current business situation

Use quantitative easing carefully, urges ECB official

ECB officials recently agreed a new framework for how to run policy in the future

EU trade in goods surges to $55.5 billion in Q1 2024

The trade balance has shown a surplus for 3 consecutive quarters, after a period of deficit from Q4 2021 to Q2 2023