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Germany's Chancellor warns businesses face one of their toughest economic tests yet, as Berlin tries to push through a new budget.
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Leanna Byrne.
In Italy, the government wants to freeze the retirement age and a landmark deal to slash the price of a life-saving HIV prevention drug.
Yes, in Germany, many businesses are not happy.
A closely watched survey from the IFO Economic Think Tank shows business sentiment fell in September.
Analysts had actually expected a rise.
It ends an eight-month run of optimistic data and adds to fears.
Europe's biggest economy is stuck in near stagnation until the end of the year.
It's a setback for Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who skipped the UN General Assembly in New York to focus on getting his budget through Parliament.
He's promised urgent action, starting with Germany's industrial backbone.
The automotive industry, the steel industry, the chemical industry.
These must remain key industries for our economy.
And because that's the case, I will be meeting with these industries, with the steel industry and the automotive industry, in the next few days.
But manufacturers like Frank Preu in Berlin say that focus risks leaving other companies behind.
I understand that our government is willing to support those key industries.
But what about other industries?
Always the same key industries and probably the same big players.
We need support and creative ways or incentives to help those middle-sized companies that are exporting worldwide to remain competitive.
Now, Chancellor Merz says Germany faces one of its toughest periods in its history.
I asked Carsten Bretzky, Chief Economist for Germany at the investment bank ING, how we got here.
Well, first of all, he's fully right.
And this has been a long period of underinvestment, of underestimating the competition coming out of China.
Too long just banking on this idea that Germany has done always well in the past and that it will automatically just rise again.
He's also skipping the UN to focus on this budget.
What signal does that send?
What is that saying?
Well, it's interesting because in the first weeks of his chancellorship he really focused on foreign policy, on Ukraine, a lot of visits.
And now he's finally focusing on domestic policies, on the economy.
So this is clearly showing, also to the German public and also to German parliament, that that the most important things currently are to get the economy growing again, to get this budget through parliament and to finally start reforms, because that is something that he promised when he came into office and so far he hasn't.
Germany is Europe's largest economy.
It pins down the Eurozone.
So what are the ripple effects for Europe and for global growth if Germany doesn't turn things around?
If Germany doesn't turn things around, it's going to weigh on the entire European economy.
Add to that the current fiscal and also political troubles in France.
So if we have Germany and France in some kind of endless stagnation, of course this has adverse effects for the rest of Europe.
Well for the rest of the world.
I think the painful truth for all of Europe is that Europe no longer matters as much to the global economy.
The rest of the world might even be happy to see Europe slowly on becoming the new Japan, but for Europe itself, It is really essential that Germany finally turns the corner and that they're also leading the rest of Europe in showing how the entire European economy can become more modern, more future-oriented and be able to face competition from the US and from China.
That was Carson Breski from ING Bank in Berlin.
So as confidence slips again, business groups are warning that Germany needs to move fast.
Anton Finkenberg from the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade says the whole economy needs a better deal.
The question for us is, is it enough for the whole economy?
The industry represents about a fifth of the German GDP.
And we welcome this new initiative from the chancellor, but we are a little bit worried that he's neglecting or forgetting about the rest of the economy.
And we all need better frameworks and less bureaucracy for all the companies.
A lot of business groups have been critical of the government.
What do you think business needs from the government right now?
I think they are starting to move on the right path, but they need more action.
We've been with this new government for about 120 days, so it's much too early to be too critical about it.
But the economic situation is really difficult for companies right now.
So action right now is what we all need.
Lower taxes, lower energy costs, and especially less bureaucracy.
That was Antonin Finkenberg from the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade.
New Zealand's central bank has appointed its first female boss.
She's stepping in after a period of upheaval at the top, with the country teetering on the edge of a double-dip recession.
Anna Bramman is set to fly in from Sweden in December.
And a row over Perrier's natural label is bubbling up in court.
A French consumer group says Nestlé misled shoppers by branding its sparkling water as natural.
The company is contesting the complaint.
With me now, Ross Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell, joining me in London.
Hello, Ross.
Hello, Diana.
Now, here's one for you.
Italy's government is considering freezing the retirement age at 67, breaking the link to life expectancy.
Now, I don't understand that.
Can you explain that to me?
Normally this is reviewed every two years.
And as we live longer.
The idea is that the Italians increase the age at which workers can access their pensions, because otherwise it would be a hugely expensive payout for the state.
But unions are now saying this is keeping people in poverty.
It means that workers are exposed to dangerous jobs when they're older.
So they'd like to break that link.
Keep the retirement age at 67 so they can get their hands on the money more quickly.
Might help the Italian government win a few votes in 2027's election, but it will cost it more money as well.
There you go.
Retirement age does win votes, definitely.
But Italy it's going the other way, because we've seen France, Germany and others.
They're actually raising retirement ages.
Often, you know, that's met by fierce public resistance, isn't it?
It is, but it's happening in the UK right now from 2026 onwards.
The challenge that you have is that we're all living longer.
That's costing governments more and populations are slightly reluctant to pay in the tax to fund that.
So it's a very, very difficult circle to square.
And certainly the UK and France right now are failing to do so.
Absolutely.
OK, Ross, stay right there.
A deal has been reached to make a new HIV prevention drug much more affordable in low and middle income countries.
The announcement comes amid a turbulent year for global health, following sweeping cuts to the US government's foreign aid programme USAID, under the Trump administration.
From Johannesburg, here's the BBC's Mianni Jones.
Lenacapavir is due to be rolled out as early as the end of this year, but the drug costs 28000 per person annually.
Now a global health consortium says a generic version will be available for a fraction of the costs, just US40.
The cheaper version will be manufactured in India and will be available in 120 middle and low-income countries by 2027.
This new initiative provides a lifeline to millions of people at risk of contracting HIV and could potentially bring the world closer to ending the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
That was my Annie Jones reporting from Johannesburg.
And you can read more online at bbc.com forward slash news.
Finally, Russ, are you much of a vegetable grower?
Eater, yes.
Grower, no.
Well, here's a number for you.
800 pounds.
That's the weight of a pumpkin that is hoping to squash the competition.
Yes, you see what I did there.
At the Giant Veg National Competition in England.
And the grower, Graham Barrett, he started growing that back in April.
Russ, is that a long-term or a short-term investment?
I think this pumpkin probably needs to be eaten and turned into soup or pie fairly quickly.
So I'm sure that's probably a bit of a short-term investment.
Short-term investment.
I think so.
Fair enough.
From the AJ Bell mouth himself, that's Russ Mould.
Thank you so much for joining us.
And that's it from World Business Express.
I'm Leanna Byrne.
Of course, don't forget to subscribe and get the latest version in your feed.
Just search for World Business Report.
Thanks so much for listening.
America is changing, and so is the world.
But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval.
It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C.
I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is The Global Story.
Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet.
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
