Package deal

A UK government scheme obliging packaging manufacturers to meet the cost of recycling their products has been deferred from October 2024 to 2025.

The decision was the result of wideranging talks with the industry and taking into account consumers and businesses’ problems in the current economic context, environment minister Rebecca Pow explained.

The additional year will be used to discuss the scheme’s design with industry, reducing the cost of implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) wherever possible.

“Producers are already beginning to use less packaging and adopt easier­torecycle formats,” Pow said.

“We expect this to continue, ensuring that costs are not passed onto households later on.”

The group, the world’s third most­important vehicle manufacturer which owns Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep, produces approximately 850,000 cars annually in Vigo, Zaragoza and Madrid.

Chief executive Carlos Tavares described the first six months of 2023 as “impressive” but admitted that Stellantis would have to cut costs to maintain profitability.

Moving up

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased its growth outlook for Spain to 2.5 per cent.

This is one percentage point above the IMF’s original prediction and half a percentage point above the Spanish government’s own forecast.

“In general, instability is never good for the economy,” the IMF’s chief economist Pierre Gourinchas said on July 25.

“I believe that we need to wait and see how the process ends and where Spain’s population wants to go with the results of these elections,” Gourinchas said in reference to the July 23 poll.

Dow Jones

Euro

EUR/GBP: Up from £0.85 to £0.86

EUR/USD: Up from $1.09 to $1.11

The euro wavered in the last week of June as European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate expectations fluctuated in response to hawkish comments from ECB President Christine Lagarde and weaker-than-expected Eurozone inflation.

EUR exchange rates continued to trade sideways at the start of July amid some lacklustre Eurozone data releases.

The euro found its footing again in the middle of the month, with the single currency being bolstered by its negative correlation with the US dollar. The resulting movement even carried EUR/USD to a new 15-month high.

However, the single currency then faltered again in the second half of July, amid a lack of notable Eurozone data and a resurgent US dollar.