Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to visit areas affected by Germany’s worst flooding in decades as the death toll exceeds 130 and hundreds remain unaccounted for, according to Bild am Sonntag. Merkel’s set to travel to Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday, the newspaper said. Water levels remain high and houses continue to collapse in some areas. A government spokeswoman said the visit ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is about to take the next step in reinventing the region’s money as it marches towards the creation of a digital euro. Policy makers will decide whether to move to an exploratory phase, which President Christine Lagarde reckons could take about two years. Ultimately, euro-zone citizens could be holding a virtual central-bank currency by ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) said it will reduce monetary stimulus by ceasing quantitative easing, a surprise move that sent the currency higher as traders priced in an interest-rate increase as early as August. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Adrian Orr, on Wednesday held the official cash rate at 0.25%, but said it will halt ...