Asia Pacific

Turkey’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for a second straight meeting as a cycle of higher borrowing costs bears fruit in cooler price rises, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey said Thursday that it decided to reduce its one-week repo rate to 45% from 47.5%. This follows a cut from 50% last month, the start of a new phase of lower rates following a series of rapid rate hikes started in the summer of 2023 in a bid to combat rampant price rises.

South Korea’s economy expanded at a weaker-than-expected pace of 2.0% in 2024 after lackluster growth in the fourth quarter amid weak consumer and business spending, bolstering the case for the central bank’s another rate cut next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Political turmoil over impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, who failed a martial-law attempt in December, and sluggish domestic demand weighed on Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Authorities in Beijing are ramping up pressure on neighbors to rein in cyberscams after the high-profile kidnapping of a young Chinese actor who says he was trafficked into a criminal enclave in Myanmar, the Wall Street Journal reported. Parts of war-torn Myanmar and other countries in Southeast Asia have become havens for sprawling scam compounds, where hundreds of thousands of people are forced to swindle billions of dollars out of victims in the U.S., China and elsewhere.

The National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) Delhi bench has dismissed Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar’s plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against ed-tech company Cue Learn Pvt. Ltd., LiveMint.com reported. Kumar had filed a plea against the edtech under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) over the non-payment of ₹4.83 crore as part of a 2021 endorsement agreement, terming the dues operational debt. However, the tribunal, in its judgment delivered on 7 January, held that Kumar’s claims did not qualify as operational debt under the IBC.

Malaysia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged yet again, as solid growth and steady inflation gives it room to extend its policy hold, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bank Negara Malaysia on Wednesday maintained its overnight policy rate at 3.00%, the same level it has been at since May 2023. “At the current OPR level, the monetary policy stance remains supportive of the economy and is consistent with the current assessment of inflation and growth prospects,” the central bank said.

President Trump said on Tuesday that he intended to impose a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports into the United States on Feb. 1, the New York Times reported. Speaking at the White House, Mr. Trump said that the tariffs were in response to China’s role in America’s fentanyl crisis. Trump said that China was sending fentanyl to Canada and Mexico, from where it would be transported into the United States. The tariff threat comes after Mr.

China is set to impose a 1 million yuan ($137,309) cap on the annual income of staff at central government-owned financial institutions, three sources said, expanding a campaign against excess against a backdrop of economic slowdown, Reuters reported. Those whose income already exceeds 1 million yuan will have their payout cut, such as middle and senior managers whose income will as much as halve in an overhaul of the compensation structure at 27 financial giants including the "Big Five" banks, six leading insurers and four major bad debt managers.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday ordered the liquidation of Go First, the budget carrier that stopped flying nearly three years ago after being bogged down by financial woes. In May 2023, the airline filed for a voluntary insolvency resolution process citing financial woes, the Economic Times of India reported. The tribunal, in a 15-page order, said it is ordering the liquidation of the corporate debtor Go Airlines (India) Ltd.

A year ago, India was bouncing back from a recession caused by Covid-19 with a spring in its step. The country had overtaken China as the most populous country, and its leaders were declaring India the world’s fastest-growing major economy, the New York Times reported. This was music to the ears of foreign investors, and to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, who at every opportunity boasted about his country’s inevitable rise.

China Vanke Co. (萬科) rebounded from record lows in credit markets, as people familiar with the matter said the distressed developer had previously told some creditors it had enough cash prepared to repay a local note, the Taipei Times reported. The firm told some creditors prior to turbulence in its bonds and shares yesterday that it had prepared enough cash to repay a 3 billion yuan (US$409.3 million) bond due on Jan. 27.