The Turkish lira is due for a reality check on Monday. August inflation data will probably show another big jump, this time to an annual rate of more than 17 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Ouch. The principal cause of the lira’s weakness has been the central bank's refusal to put interest rates high enough to contain runaway consumer prices, a Bloomberg View reported. So, on Monday, everyone will get a nice reminder that policy makers haven’t acted quickly enough to control inflation. They’ll also get a sense of where price gains are headed, and here the picture looks grim.
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Fines levied by China's banking regulator have surged since Guo Shuqing became its head in February 2017, rising nearly six-fold from the cumulative fines levied over the previous 14 years, UBS said in a report. The exponential increase in fines highlights a much stricter level of enforcement of regulations in the banking sector as Beijing seeks to fend off systematic financial risks, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.
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Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. is considering a breakup plan as part of a restructuring to help trim its 420 billion rupee ($6 billion) debt pile and boost investor confidence in a company that was once India’s biggest steelmaker by market value, Bloomberg News reported. The New Delhi-based company is looking at splitting its steel, power and international businesses into three separate entities, Chairman Naveen Jindal said in an interview. Any such plan would need the approval of lenders, regulators and the board, he said.
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The lira crisis has faded from the headlines, but the Turkish government’s stopgap measures to halt the hemorrhaging will not fix what ails the economy, a Bloomberg View reported. There are other crises around the corner: Foreign capital flows financing the country’s massive current account deficit have dried up following the row between President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the fate of Andrew Brunson, the American pastor jailed by Turkish authorities. The heavily indebted corporate sector, especially real-estate and construction companies, are hanging by a thread.
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China’s six largest lenders, which control a combined $16 trillion of assets, mentioned the word almost 1,900 times in their first-half earnings announcements, up about 9 percent from the same period of 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bank of China Ltd. said it achieved “new breakthroughs in risk mitigation,” while China Construction Bank Corp. touted its “stringent risk management,” Bloomberg News reported.
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A wave of African nations looking to restructure debt with China on the eve of a major Beijing summit provides a reality check for the continent, where most countries still view Chinese lending as the best bet to develop their economies, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. China has denied engaging in "debt trap" diplomacy, but President Xi Jinping is likely to use next week's gathering of African leaders to offer a new round of financing, following a pledge of $60 billion at the last summit three years ago.
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Investors demanded a hefty premium from Bank of Cyprus as it raised fresh capital this week, illustrating the continuing toll that heightened market volatility is taking on eurozone financials, the Financial Times reported. The Mediterranean lender is having to pay the highest coupon yet seen on a European contingent convertible bond, demonstrating the lengths that some of the continent’s weaker lenders will have to go to raise capital if market volatility continues.
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India’s banks have stepped up a drive to sell the assets of companies that can’t repay their debts. A deadline set by the central bank to restructure an estimated 3.6 trillion rupees ($51 billion) of stressed loans expired on Aug. 27, driving at least a dozen companies into bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg News reported. Many of the other indebted companies are finding buyers, adding to already record levels of mergers and acquisitions in Asia’s third-largest economy this year.
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Turkey’s central bank took steps to undo some of the emergency support it provided to its banks in recent weeks, reviving investor concerns over the nation’s financial stability as the Turkish lira continued its slide against the dollar, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ratings firm Moody’s also rattled investors by downgrading 18 Turkish banks on fears they will face growing difficulties in difficulties in refinancing foreign-currency loans. “There is a heightened risk of a downside funding scenario,” the ratings agency said in a research note.
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Varde Partners Inc. and Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. are creating a joint venture to invest as much as $1 billion in distressed assets in India, according to people familiar with the transaction, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. investment firm and Indian financial services provider, helmed by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, are expected to deploy this sum over three years, one of the people said. The venture, which will scout for deals of up to $100 million, may be announced as early as this week, the person said.
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