The Bank of Japan may decide as soon as next month to let its emergency corporate-debt buying programs expire as businesses regain access to private funding, people with direct knowledge of the discussions said, Bloomberg reported. Officials are concerned that maintaining their purchases of corporate bonds and commercial paper beyond the scheduled end in December would distort capital markets, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are private.

Japan's economic stimulus appears to be petering out after figures released today showed industrial output rose in August but at a slower rate for the fourth month in a row, The Guardian reported. The data comes as Japan's new government attempts to reconcile plans to cut spending and meet demands for an extra budget to drive the world's second-biggest economy towards recovery. The economy, trade and industry ministry expects production to rise 1.1% this month and by 2.2% in October.

Japan's transport minister said Sunday he will not force the struggling Japan Airlines, Asia's biggest airline, into bankruptcy, The Associated Press reported. "We will not crush and liquidate (the airline)," Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said on a TV Asahi talk show.

An Australian court has ruled that local governments can pursue financial claims against collapsed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in Australia and elsewhere, a firm that is funding the litigation said on Monday, Reuters reported. IMF (Australia) Ltd said the Federal Court ruled on Friday in favour of town councils and others which had lost money in collateralised debt obligations marketed and issued by Lehman, opening the door to legal claims to recover their losses.

The Japanese government was not considering bankruptcy for loss-making Japan Airlines Corp, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said on Thursday, adding he had not yet given the airline an answer to its plea for a public bail-out, Reuters reported. The new transport minister met JAL's CEO and the airline's lenders on Thursday to discuss how to rescue the airline, which has been hit hard by the global aviation downturn in the wake of the financial crisis. Speaking after the meetings, Maehara said the biggest problem for JAL was a lack of capital.

China’s central bank deputy governor, Hu Xiaolian, proposed setting up a multinational sovereign wealth fund to invest in developing nations and help reduce the danger of another financial crisis, Bloomberg reported. Hu’s proposal “will give countries with excess foreign- exchange holdings more options to invest in the emerging world rather than in the U.S.,” said Ma Jun, chief China economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong. The current crisis is due in part to the dollar’s role as the main currency for trade and foreign-exchange reserves, Hu said in the paper.

New Zealand emerged from its worst recession in three decades, unexpectedly expanding for the first time in six quarters on rising consumer spending and exports of logs and dairy products. The nation’s currency surged. Gross domestic product increased 0.1 percent in the three months to June 30 following a 0.8 percent drop in the first quarter, Statistics New Zealand said in Wellington today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 12 economists was for a 0.2 percent contraction. Read more.

Bankruptcy petitions in Hong Kong rose by 33 percent in August from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, as companies continued to grapple with weak business conditions, Reuters reported. However, petitions fell from the previous month for a third straight month. Bankruptcy petitions totalled 1,099 in August month, up from 824 a year earlier but down 25 percent from 1,475 petitions in July, although monthly figures are not seasonally adjusted. The annual pace of increase was slightly slower than in July when petitions rose 36 percent from a year earlier.

Japan’s transportation minister sought on Thursday to allay concerns that the country’s new centre-left government might withdraw financial support for Japan Airlines, the loss-making carrier that is seeking at least Y100 billion ($1.09 billion) in emergency aid, the Financial Times reported. Seiji Maehara, who assumed the transportation post on Wednesday, said: “Japan’s skies have always had two airlines, and it’s important that we continue with a system of two major airlines.

Chinese carmakers are seeking to step into the gaps left by U.S. companies in Europe — but while acquisitions may give them access to badly-needed technical know-how, global brands and exposure to new markets, the question is whether they have learnt from past failures, a Reuters commentary found. With China now the world’s largest car market, it’s no surprise that Chinese carmakers — which have few if any really solid brands within their home market — want to start making more of a mark. In theory, foreign acquisitions offer a quick way to do so.