LONDON (Reuters) – Poland will dodge the recession weighing on swathes of Europe, the country’s finance minister said, noting there was plenty of scope for the Polish central bank to cut interest rates further to support growth.

“We don’t see the slowdown as being particularly threatening,” Jacek Rostowski told Reuters Television on Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Financial markets have already priced in that the UK will lose its prized triple-A credit rating, the head of the country’s debt agency said on Wednesday.

“We are aware that a number of the rating agencies do have us on some form of negative outlook,” Robert Stheeman, chief executive at the UK Debt Management Office told Reuters Television.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland expects to return fully to bond markets late next year but needs a deal on easing its bank debt to make sure it can successfully exit its international bailout, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said.

Speaking days before the country takes over the EU presidency, Kenny told Reuters he was confident an easing of repayment terms on the promissory notes, or IOUs, that Dublin pumped mainly into the failed Anglo Irish Bank would be agreed by a March deadline.

LONDON (Reuters) – The biggest threat to Spain’s investment grade status is its intensifying recession, Fitch’s head of sovereign ratings said on Thursday, although proposed support measures such as ECB bond buying could help turn the situation around.

Spain, which continues to resist making a formal request for aid, is expected to see its economy shrink substantially over the next two years as the combination of high unemployment, painful spending cuts and an exodus of capital bites.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A Greek exit from the euro zone would be “catastrophic” for the country, former prime minister Lucas Papademos said on Thursday, urging the Greek people to “stay the course” of painful economic reforms.

“The overall economic consequences of a Greek euro exit would be disastrous, or to use a Greek word, catastrophic,” Papademos, also a former vice president of the European Central Bank, said in a speech at an Institute of International Finance conference in Copenhagen.

INGOLSTADT, Germany, March 1 (Reuters) – Audi is
scaling back ambitions to maintain record profit margins this
year in the face of ramp-up costs for its new compact car,
higher spending on research and development and investments to
expand in China.

Echoing similar downbeat comments from rival Mercedes-Benz
last month, Volkswagen’s premium brand
said on Thursday that a likely 4 percent-plus increase in car
sales this year might not translate into an earnings
improvement.

LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) – Sterling slipped on Thursday
ahead of data expected to show a fall in UK retail sales, and a
day after the government cut its economic growth forecast for
this year when announcing the budget.

A soft retail sales report could push sterling below $1.62,
analysts say, and would back up the slight shift in interest
rate expectations, with money markets now betting on a Bank of
England rate hike in August.

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) – The euro weakened broadly on
Wednesday ahead of a crucial vote in the Portuguese parliament
that could bring down the government, a sharp reminder to
investors of the seriousness of the euro zone’s debt crisis.

Portugal’s political and financial crisis — and a failure
to take out options barriers at $1.4250 — brought the euro down
around a cent from a four and a half month high of $1.4249 on
Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar fell to a 15-month low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, with sterling among the biggest gainers after a rise in UK inflation increased the chances of a UK interest rate hike sooner rather than later.

Relative interest rate expectations also lifted the euro to its highest against the dollar this year, but a reported options barrier at $1.4250 and a sharp sell-off in euro/sterling following the UK inflation data capped its gains.

LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar weakened on Wednesday as traders’ inability to push the euro below $1.45 prompted a wave of position-squaring ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and statement later in the day.

The euro had slipped to a two-and a half month low on Tuesday but strong sovereign and options-related buying on Wednesday averted a break below $1.45.