New NPL rules put off.

giant shoes left by Wolfgang Schaeuble, the fiscally hawkish and larger-than-life veteran of German politics who now presides over the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. Some conservatives fear Scholz, who recently backed a big increase in the minimum wage, could raise government spending and reverse Schaeuble’s “black zero” policy of not incurring new debt. Others say that Scholz would be likely to stick to Germany’s fiscal conservatism but could adopt a more conciliatory tone toward poorer eurozone countries such as Greece. ensuring a level playing field. “Capacity mechanisms can help safeguard security of electricity supply, but they must be designed so as to avoid distortions of competition in energy markets,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. The Commission said the schemes in France and Greece pay users to reduce their power consumption in hours when electricity is scarce.

The European Central Bank’s new rules forcing lenders to set aside more cash for loans that go unpaid may come into force on April 1, three months later than originally planned, the ECB’s chief supervisor Daniele Nouy said yesterday. Heavy criticism from southern nations such as Greece and Italy forced the ECB to rethink its proposal and while no fundamental change in the proposal is likely, the ECB is expected to refine its text to fend off criticism.