Italian bank MPS seeks fresh capital

The board of Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena is meeting as the bank searches for a way to repair a 5-billion-euro ($5.3 billion) hole in its finances. If MPS cannot raise additional capital from private investors in the coming days, it could need an Italian taxpayer-funded bailout. The bank’s troubles are one of the urgent tasks confronting the new Italian government to be headed by premierdesignate Paolo Gentiloni, Italy’s former foreign minister who was named Sunday to lead the country. grew by 4 percent year on year in the third quarter of this year, according to official figures released. The figures from the Central Statistics Office showed that compared with a year ago, Ireland’s GDP was 6.9 percent higher. This week, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said the Irish economy is expected to grow at about 4 percent this year, well ahead of EU partners. The CSO said Ireland’s gross national product increased by 3.2 percent in the third quarter, adding that compared with a year ago, GNP was 10.2 percent higher than in the third quarter of 2015. The CSO figures also showed that net exports were 20.1 percent higher in the third quarter of 2016 compared with the corresponding quarter of 2015. environmental taxes as part of a package of fiscal measures to meet the European Union’s budget deficit goals. The new environmental taxes are part of the revised budgetary plan Spain has submitted to the European Commission. The plan says the new taxes will target a reduction in greenhouse gases.