The Monetary Policy Council at its meeting on February 3–4, 2026 kept the reference rate at 4.00%[3], following a series of reductions totaling 175 basis points in 2025. The lombard rate stands at 4.50%, and the deposit rate at 3.50%. CPI inflation in December 2025 fell to 2.4% year-on-year[1], below the National Bank of Poland’s…
On key ocean routes in the first week of February rates fell to levels close to carriers’ breakeven points[1]. On the Asia–West Coast USA route, rates were 1,450–1,800 USD/FEU, with the Freightos Baltic Index dropping by 10% to 2,418 USD/FEU[2]. The Asia–East Coast USA route was valued at about 3,850 USD/FEU (a 5% week-on-week decrease),…
On February 2, SpaceX announced the acquisition of xAI[1] , Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company and creator of the Grok chatbot, in a stock swap deal exchanging 1 share of xAI for 0.1433 SpaceX shares. Together valued at 1.25 trillion dollars[2] integrating rockets, Starlink satellites, the X platform[3] and the Grok AI models, making it…
On January 26, 2026, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom signed the so-called Hamburg Declaration[1], committing to building 100 GW of offshore wind capacity[2] in the North Sea by 2050. The investment package foresees installing 5 GW annually[3] between 2031 and 2040, investments of 9.5 billion euros…
The Council of Ministers has approved the schedule for indexation of benefits[1] from the Social Insurance Institution for 2026. From March 1, the minimum pension will increase from 1878.91 PLN[2] gross, which means a raise of 4.88%, or[35] 91.69 PLN monthly. The increase will cover over 7 million pensioners and disability pensioners[3] and will not…
The US office market vacancy rate fell to 18.4% at the end of December 2025[1], down 140 basis points year-over-year, marking the lowest level since the pandemic in major cities. Manhattan and San Francisco saw the biggest drops in vacancies – by 300 and 370 basis points respectively – while Austin and Seattle still hold…
On February 2, 2026, a nationwide public transport strike is underway in Germany[1] organized by the Verdi union. Buses, trams, and metro services in approximately 150 cities (excluding Lower Saxony) are not running in subzero temperatures[2], complicating alternative mobility options. Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance rail operates normally[3] as its employees are not part of Verdi. Simultaneously, in the Lombardy region of Italy, Trenord workers…
In late January 2026, the AI market was dominated by Gemini 3 Pro’s results and a record $20 billion funding round.
In late January 2026, the EU fully launched CBAM and prepares ESG reporting reforms amid renewable energy growth data.
Recent global regulations and product changes directly impact health insurance premiums and retirement costs worldwide.