Asia Pacific

Singapore’s bond market is bracing for the latest unfortunate export from Indonesia: debt defaults, Bloomberg News reported. The city state, shrouded in smog from fires in its neighbor, is also starting to feel the impact of that nation’s currency woes. Indonesian phone retailer PT Trikomsel Oke’s Singapore-dollar bonds plunged to record lows last week after it blamed a weak rupiah when flagging a possible bond restructuring that would be the local market’s first in six years.

Lacking only façade work, wiring and paint, the red-brick duplexes lining a remote street in the Chinese port city of Qingdao could, if required, hit the market in a matter of days. That presents a problem for China and the world. Marketed as villas, the duplexes in the sprawling Shimao Noble Town aren’t quite complete and don’t have permits for sale. That makes them invisible to both national and local statisticians trying to get a handle on the size of China’s massive glut of empty and unfinished homes.

China Huarong Asset Management, the largest manager of distressed debt in China, is looking to raise up to $2.5 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong this month, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The bank is offering 5.77 billion shares at 3.03 to 3.39 Hong Kong dollars, or 39 cents to 44 cents, a share, according to people with direct knowledge of the offering terms. That means it could raise $2.3 billion to $2.5 billion. It has secured commitments worth $1.6 billion from 10 “cornerstone” investors, or large institutional buyers.

State owned miner Solid Energy faces a court action to cancel its scheme to repay creditors, Stuff.co.nz reported. Cargill International has filed in the High Court for termination of Solid's Energy's scheme to pay back trading creditors, banks and bondholders. Solid Energy was in partnership with Cargill at the Spring Creek mine on the West Coast from 2007 to 2012, when a crash in world coal prices started Solid Energy's slide into voluntary administration. Cargill said it lost US$42.4 million ($63.5m) in the mine and undelivered volumes of coal from the Spring Creek Mining Company.

Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s dollar bonds headed for their best rally in six months on speculation a restructuring agreement with an onshore lender will allow the beleaguered Chinese developer to focus on resolving a stalemate with offshore creditors. The Shenzen-based real estate group’s Shanghai unit has returned to normal operations after reaching a settlement with Bank of China Ltd., spokeswoman Zhou Ting said in an e-mail Tuesday, declining to elaborate on the amount of debt involved.

As financial leaders gather this week to assess the health of the world economy, one of the central topics for discussion will be how ready markets are for a crisis in a large developing economy such as China, Turkey or Brazil, the International New York Times reported. At the center of this debate will be the question of whether the International Monetary Fund still has the ability to act effectively if — as some experts fear — emerging markets begin to crumble under the weight of heavy debt.

A health service provider that was turning over approximately $1.2 million has collapsed into voluntary administration, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Fitgenes was incorporated in 2009 and provides personalised health care using a patient’s genetic predispositions when it comes to fitness, health and nutrition. The Fitgenes Group operates a clinic in Perth and as of September 2014, was working with 350 clinics and more than 470 practitioners who use the company’s proprietary cloud-based software.

Overseas loans by banks in Hong Kong fell significantly for the first time in more than four years in August, the month China surprised the world by devaluing its currency and effectively making loans at home much cheaper, The Wall Street Journal reported. Chinese borrowing accounts for a large portion of overseas lending by banks in the city, including foreign lenders. Overseas loans soared in the years when the yuan was rising and interest rates on the mainland were higher than those in Hong Kong. But in August such loans fell sharply. Because of its peg to the U.S.

Concern over external debt in corporate Indonesia is mounting as companies seek to roll over more than $42bn of foreign currency loans within the next 12 months, following a period of steep rupiah depreciation, the Financial Times reported. External debt is a red flag to investors. It added fuel to the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, as ravaged currencies magnified foreign currency borrowings across swathes of the region. Some Asian currencies, including the Indonesian rupiah, are flirting with the levels hit at that time.

The world economy lost momentum in September, with China’s vast factory sector shrinking again and euro zone manufacturing growth weakening slightly, both casualties of waning global demand. The latest business surveys across Asia and Europe paint a darkening picture and are likely to prompt more calls for central banks around the world to loosen monetary policy even further, The Globe and Mail reported.