Italy's troubled third-largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS), said Tuesday that the European Central Bank has called for it to receive a bailout of 8.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion).

Egypt targets a five percent economic growth rate in the year to June 2018, the finance ministry said Sunday as the government seeks to revive an economy battered by political turmoil.

A Saudi financial newspaper Sunday retracted an article it published the previous day saying that Riyadh planned to sell a 49 percent stake in state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco within a decade.

Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem has said Greece had cleared up doubts and could expect a positive decision on debt relief, defusing a row over surprise handouts announced by Athens.

Saudi Arabia plans to sell up to 49 percent of its oil giant Saudi Aramco within 10 years as the world's largest crude exporter tries to lower its deficit, local media said Saturday.

The Al-Eqtisadiah daily quoted an unnamed official as saying the sale would raise funds to be spent "at home and abroad" in what is expected to form the world's largest state investment fund. 

IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Friday joined a  Cameroon summit of central African leaders aimed at tackling economic woes brought on by weak oil prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the economy was set to shrink slightly this year, but by far less than in 2015, as the country struggles out of a two-year recession.

Credit Suisse said Friday it had reached an agreement with US authorities to pay almost $5.3 billion to settle disputes over the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

German consumers are looking ahead to the new year with optimism, a leading survey said Friday, though it warned that the impact of this week's deadly Berlin attack had yet to be taken into account.

The poll of around 2,000 people, carried out by market research firm GfK, found that consumer morale in Europe's top economy rose for a third consecutive month in December.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Thursday that his focus is to restore confidence and hope in Lebanon, promising the Lebanese and investors a twenty-fold increase in internet speed.