Denmark's central bank cut its deposit rate further into negative territory Monday as market players speculated the country could follow Switzerland's example and remove its currency peg against the euro.

The deposit rate, which was cut to below zero in September for the first time since 2012, was reduced to -0.2 percent from -0.05 percent.

An election win for Greece's leftist Syriza party on Sunday could mark a turning point in Europe where other populist parties, starting with Podemos in Spain, are hoping to launch their own anti-austerity revolts.

Syriza and Podemos are united in blaming Europe's ills on budget austerity measures imposed by the so-called "troika" -- the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- and by their tough stand against corruption.

The United Arab Emirates on Monday downplayed fears that the fall in oil prices could negatively impact the development of renewable energy projects.

"Our interconnected energy landscape has evolved beyond the point where the price of oil determines the fate of clean energy," said minister of state Sultan al-Jaber who is also chairman of Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company.

An Abu Dhabi fund said Sunday that it will provide $57 million worth of concessional loans for clean energy projects in five developing countries.

The projects were aimed at bringing "reliable and sustainable power to more than 280,000 people" in Argentina, Cuba, Iran, Mauritania and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

British economic growth could be stronger than expected this year, boosted by lower oil prices and flat inflation that will encourage consumers to spend, according to an influential report published Monday.

The EY ITEM Club's winter forecast predicted gross domestic product growth of 2.9 percent in 2015 -- higher than its previous estimate and stronger than the government's prediction of 2.4 percent.

Faced with a crippling recession, Russian authorities are coming in for growing criticism from economic insiders concerned over a lack of clear policies to deal with the crisis.

After a year that saw growth slump and the ruble nosedive on the back of falling oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine, officials have predicted that Russia's economy will contract by some five percent in 2015.

Oil prices edged lower in Asia on Monday as a rally late last week fizzled out, owing to lingering concerns about weak demand and a global supply glut, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February eased 37 cents to $48.32 in afternoon trade and Brent crude for March fell 37 cents to $49.80.

Switzerland's central bank chief on Friday defended the institution's shock decision to scrap efforts to stop the overheated franc rising, insisting the turbulence rocking markets and the Swiss economy should settle.

"You must remember that the currency cap from the beginning was supposed to be an exceptional and temporary measure," Thomas Jordan said in an interview to be published in the Saturday editions of Swiss dailies Le Temps and NZZ.

Moody's cut Russia's credit rating to one step above junk level Friday and warned the country was under review for a further downgrade.

Moody's said that the plunge in oil prices and in the ruble would further erode Russia's economic growth potential and that it had concerns about the government's financial strength.

The euro fell Friday against the dollar on growing expectation that the European Central Bank will launch stimulus next week to jump-start the ailing eurozone economy.

The euro fell below $1.15 for the first time since November 2003, before recovering to trade at $1.1566 around 2200 GMT. Late Thursday the shared European currency traded at $1.1623.