Bank of Spain figures show that the country's public debt is now worth more than the value of the economy.

The bank said Wednesday that Spain's public debt stockpile stood at 1.09 trillion euros ($1.23 trillion) in the first quarter of the year. That represents 101 percent of the country's annual GDP — 1.08 trillion euros — in 2015.

Crude prices hit fresh 2016 highs in its march toward $50 in Asia Wednesday, fanned by escalating wildfires in Canada's oil sands region and hopes of an easing in a global supply glut.

Prices shot up this week after U.S. banking giant Goldman Sachs said supply disruptions in Africa's biggest oil producer Nigeria -- along with better demand -- had created a surprising short-term deficit.

Chinese appliance giant Midea on Wednesday launched a takeover offer for German industrial robotics supplier Kuka and is seeking at least a 30 percent stake, according to a statement, the latest major overseas Chinese investment.

The International Monetary Fund's number two official on Tuesday told Iran that it faces a crucial opportunity to rebuild its economy and rejoin the global economy.

However, with sanctions over its nuclear program lifted but tough U.S. restrictions still in place on banking, IMF deputy managing director David Lipton said Tehran needs to take key steps, including taking action to stop money laundering and terror financing.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Iran this week, seeking to boost trade with the oil-rich country after international sanctions were lifted this year, it was announced Tuesday.

A group of German businessmen and academics are taking the European Central Bank to court over its controversial bond-buying program, their lawyer said on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, said Tuesday it has hired Thomas Piquemal, the former finance chief of French power supplier EDF, as head of its global mergers and acquisitions department.

Piquemal, 47, "will join the bank effective May 17," Deutsche Bank said in a statement.

Brent crude pushed towards $50 a barrel in Asia Tuesday, boosted by supply disruptions from the escalating Canadian wildfires and armed attacks against oil facilities in Nigeria.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has taken a $1 billion stake in Apple, whose stock has been in an extended slump.

The stake was revealed in a regulatory filing by Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway after Apple shares skidded last week to their lowest level in two years.

More than 300 business chiefs on Monday urged Britain to vote to leave the EU in June's referendum, arguing in a joint letter that its bureaucracy stifled companies' ability to grow.