Washington and the EU will pledge joint action to tackle concerns focused on China about non-market practices and coordinate their export controls on semiconductors and other goods at a meeting this month, a draft statement showed.

Two electric vehicle battery makers plan to spend around 10 billion euros ($11 billion) on factories in Europe, they said on Friday, after Europe loosened state aid rules for green industry projects in a bid to win the subsidy race with the US.

Britain’s economy grew 0.1 per cent over the first quarter despite weakening in March, official data revealed Friday, as output continues to be hit by high inflation and strikes.

European Union ministers on Friday backed reducing the bloc’s economic dependence on China but will now have to figure out how to make that a reality, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

The G7 plans to launch a partnership scheme to diversify supply chains this year, the group’s finance ministers said Saturday following talks in Japan ahead of a major summit next week.

The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent on Thursday, taking borrowing costs to their highest since 2008 with its 12th consecutive rate rise, as it seeks to curb the fastest inflation of any major economy.

Britain must not get left behind in rapid financial innovation and it was getting closer to deciding “when, rather than if” it would issue a digital version of sterling, its financial services minister said on Wednesday.

Industrial orders at German factories saw their biggest fall in March since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020, data showed Friday, the latest sign that Europe’s biggest economy is facing a steep downturn.

Apple on Thursday said iPhone sales and money made from services powered quarterly earnings that beat forecasts, despite inflation pressure and the slowing global economy.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offered Bhutan a scope to build an economic zone in Bangladesh for mutual benefits during a meeting in London with Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema. 

Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Friday presented plans to cap the price of electricity used by energy-intensive industries to insulate the sector against sharp cost increases, but the proposal immediately sparked criticism.

Rumee A Hossain has been re-elected as the chairman of the board executive committee of Bank Asia Limited at a meeting of the Board of Directors held recently.

The British pound was steady against the dollar on Thursday having hit an 11-month high overnight after the Federal Reserve raised rates but signalled an end to its tightening cycle is in sight.

Global tech giants could face fines of up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover if a British government bill to protect consumers launched on Tuesday becomes law.

British businesses are struggling to meet their sustainability goals due to rising energy prices, costs associated with international trade barriers and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey showed on Thursday.

German investor confidence unexpectedly fell in April for the second straight month, a survey showed Tuesday, due to lingering fears about the banking sector and concerns about stubbornly high inflation.

Finance executives at top British firms have reported the sharpest rise in optimism since late 2020 and the recent upheaval in the global banking sector has not dented the mood, a quarterly survey by Deloitte showed on Monday.

Russian oil exports jumped to their highest level in almost three years in March despite Western sanctions, but revenues were down sharply from last year, the International Energy Agency said Friday.

Russia started fuel exports to Iran by rail this year for the first time after traditional buyers shunned trade with Moscow, according to three industry sources and exports data.

Britain now looks set for a shallower economic hit this year than previously thought but remains on course to suffer the sharpest contraction among the world’s big economies, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.