Business

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development issued an updated report this Thursday on growth prospects in all the regions where it operates. Its Chief Economist Beata Javorcik spoke to FRANCE 24 specifically about the challenges facing the economies of conflict-hit countries like Lebanon, Ukraine and Russia.

As France's newly-formed government faces pressure to finalise its spending plans for 2025, Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin says the state of public finances is worse than was expected only a few days ago, and that this year's budget shortfall could top 6 percent of GDP – far above the government's earlier estimate of 5.1 percent. Plus, Commerzbank has named Bettina Orlopp as its new CEO, as it tries to fend off a possible hostile takeover by Italy's UniCredit. 

Executives from Volkswagen and labour leaders are meeting this Wednesday in Hanover to discuss a new labour agreement. In the face of increased competition and high costs, the company has called for drastic cost-cutting measures. In this edition, we look at why the storied German industrial champion has hit a rough patch. Plus, our correspondents in Germany head to a town that's depended on VW's good health since the 1960s and is now planning for the worst.

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, the US state of California has sued ExxonMobil for fraud over plastic recycling. The state's attorney general accuses the oil giant of deceiving the public for decades by promoting recycling as a solution to plastic waste management while knowing that it isn't viable to do so at scale. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer speaks with Alyssa Johl, Vice President of Legal and General Counsel at the Center for Climate Integrity. 

The governor of the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, has announced new measures meant to boost the country's ailing economy. China's central bank is lowering its benchmark interest rate as well as reducing the cash requirement that banks are supposed to hold in a bid to free up lending capacity and reach the government's target of 5 percent growth this year. Also in this edition, a new report outlines the deforestation threats in Malaysia's Sarawak state and what the EU can do about it.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned against a "hostile takeover" of Commerzbank, after Italy's UniCredit revealed it had significantly increased its stake in Germany's second-largest bank, from 9 percent to 21 percent. Plus, with New York's Climate Week underway alongside the UN General Assembly, FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer speaks to Gregory Renand, head of the Z Zurich Foundation, about the need to boost measures to help vulnerable communities adapt to the consequences of climate change. 

France's new economic team is led by two young and relatively unknown members of President Macron's pro-business coalition. They face a host of fiscal challenges as they try to reduce deficits without raising taxes on France's middle class.

People in Martinique are protesting the cost of living. That's because food products on the island cost up to 42 percent more than in mainland France. Sri Lankans are gearing up for a presidential election – and this year, the economy will be at the top of voters' minds. The Bank of England decided to hold its key rate steady at 5 percent, a day after the US Federal Reserve kicked off its own rate cuts with a half percentage point reduction. 

Sri Lankan voters will head to the polls this Saturday to choose a new president. We'll see why the economy will be at the heart of the campaign with the financial collapse of 2022 still present in peoples' minds. In 2024, economic indicators have recovered but Sri Lankans are still suffering. Also in this edition, Donald Trump accuses the US federal reserve of "playing politics" after it cut its target interest rate.

The US Federal Reserve lowered its key lending rate by a deeper-than-expected 0.5 percent, in its first rate cut in more than four years. The move indicates that while monetary policymakers are confident about taming inflation, their focus has shifted to supporting the slowing job market. Plus, France 24's Yuka Royer speaks with Regina Mayor, Global Head of Clients & Markets at KPMG International, about what is top of mind for global CEOs amid economic uncertainty and technological advances.