Bloomberg Business

Britons are turning to floating rate mortgages that track the Bank of England’s key lending rate in a bet that policy makers will soon begin to slash borrowing costs.

Spain will raise its minimum wage by an inflation-busting 8% after the government and unions struck a deal, brushing aside calls from business groups to refrain from increases at a time of economic uncertainty.

India will spend less on a food subsidy program that feeds 800 million people after the government stopped providing some grain for free.

The UK intends to regulate cryptoasset activities including trading, lending and custody under the same regime as traditional financial services.

India’s defense budget saw a modest growth of 5.5% as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government focused instead on social sector spending and tax cuts ahead of national elections due next year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government unveiled a pre-election India budget that cut personal income taxes to boost consumption while ramping up infrastructure spending to spur growth in an economy touted as a “bright star” amid a gloomy global outlook.

Asia’s manufacturers are improving at the start of the year as the region becomes more optimistic about the boost from China’s reopening, while activity in the euro area shows the downturn is softening as cost pressures ease.

A surge in Chinese spending last month has spurred more optimism about the country’s economic rebound, though weakness among manufacturers and sales of cars and homes still suggest the recovery isn’t yet on sure footing.