Asia Pacific

Private lenders IDFC First Bank and Yes Bank and state-owned Indian Bank have put their loans to SpiceJet Ltd in the high-risk category, the latest setback for the airline, Reuters reported. The lenders are concerned about SpiceJet's cash flows and have held discussions seeking assurances from the Indian budget carrier as it is behind on payments to some aircraft lessors, the sources said. The discussion comes as SpiceJet's approved fleet was halved for eight weeks this summer by regulators due to safety snags and as lessors have filed formal applications to de-register four planes.

China’s surprisingly strong export growth in July lifted its trade surplus to another record and provided some much-needed economic support, but the country will still have to find ways to keep its fragile recovery on track as the global economy slows this year, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s trade balance climbed to about $101 billion last month, while exports in dollar terms grew 18% from a year earlier -- far higher than economists’ estimates of a 14.1% gain.

Japanese bank lending rose 1.8% in July from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month, as some companies borrowed more to meet rising raw material costs amid a surge in global commodity inflation, Reuters reported. Outstanding loans held by the country's four main categories of banks, including "shinkin" or credit unions, hit a record 588.232 trillion yen ($4.36 trillion), Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed on Monday.

A London judge has told Kazakh mining company ENRC, its former legal adviser Dechert and the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to consider mediation to end bitter litigation over events that led to a near 10-year criminal investigation, Reuters reported. Despite ruling in May that former veteran Dechert partner Neil Gerrard had grossly betrayed his own client and former senior SFO officers had behaved with bad faith, High Court Judge David Waksman suggested all sides call a truce. "Notwithstanding what's happened in the past and the serious allegations ...

The final whistle has sounded for China Evergrande Group’s global soccer ambitions. The embattled Chinese property giant is canceling a contract to build what was slated to be the world’s largest soccer stadium, and is returning land-use rights for the site to the government of Guangzhou in its home province, the Wall Street Journal reported. Evergrande said that it would receive a refund equivalent to about $818 million, and intends to use the money to help repay a mountain of debt. The property conglomerate, which has around $300 billion in liabilities, defaulted on its U.S.

China invited Zambia's private creditors to discuss the nation's debt later this month after official creditors agreed to a restructuring of its debt, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Du Xiaohui said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Zambia's creditors have pledged to negotiate a restructuring of the country's debts in a move welcomed by International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva as "clearing the way" for a $1.4 billion fund programme.

Australia's "Big Four" banks raised their home loan variable interest rates on Thursday, after the country's central bank hiked rates earlier this week, Reuters reported. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp increased their mortgage rates to match the hike announced by the central bank. The new rates for CBA and ANZ customers will take effect from Aug. 12, while Westpac's rates will apply from Aug. 18. The banks also raised rates on some of their products for customers with savings accounts and deposits.

Sri Lanka’s new president said Wednesday that his government is preparing a national policy roadmap for the next 25 years that aims to cut public debt and turn the country into a competitive export economy as it seeks a way out of its worst economic disaster, the Associated Press reported. President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his speech to Parliament said Sri Lanka needs long-term solutions and a strong foundation to stop a recurrence of economic crises.

The International Monetary Fund said it would work with Bangladesh to design a loan program request in coming months that meets the country's economic and social dynamics and has "safeguards" in the event of a further deterioration in economic conditions, Reuters reported. In a revised statement of support for Bangladesh's request for a loan from the new IMF Resilience and Sustainability Trust, the Fund said that work on an RST loan will proceed as the new trust is being made operational.

China’s steel industry is entering a precarious new era as a worsening property crisis imperils demand and Beijing’s construction-led growth model looks increasingly untenable. Almost a third of China’s steel mills could go into bankruptcy in a squeeze that’s likely to last five years, Li Ganpo, founder and chairman of Hebei Jingye Steel Group, warned at a private company meeting in June. “The whole sector is losing money and I can’t see a turning point for now,” he said, according to a transcript of the gathering seen by Bloomberg News.