Asia Pacific

Money managers on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley are learning once again that investing in China can be fraught, Bloomberg News reported. The Biden administration is close to completing an executive order that would curb U.S. investment in China’s tech industry, foreshadowing a further slowdown in bets on the world’s second-largest economy. Uncertainty over policy related to China has already contributed to a decrease of capital flowing into the Asian country.

The proposed amendments to the Malaysian Insolvency Act 1967, as announced in the revised 2023 Budget, will be tabled in Parliament next month, the New Straits Times reported. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the amendments to the Act would improve the administration and management of the country's bankruptcy system.

As China tries to turn the page on one of its worst stretches of growth since the 1970s, its economy is being weighed down by the colossal debts of its local governments, which swelled during the pandemic and are starting to come to a head, the Wall Street Journal reported. Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid campaign saddled cities with billions of dollars in unplanned expenditures for mass testing and lockdowns. The Chinese leader’s crackdown on excessive property-market leverage led to a sharp drop in land sales, depriving cities of one of their biggest revenue sources.

Pakistan will be required to give an assurance that its balance of payments deficit is fully financed for the fiscal year ending in June to unlock the next tranche of IMF funding, the fund's resident representative said on Monday, Reuters reported. The funding is critical for the South Asian economy, which is facing a balance of payments crisis, with its central bank foreign exchange reserves dropping to levels barely able to cover four weeks of imports.

China's foreign exchange regulator said on Monday that there is no change in China's policy on cross-border remittance of funds, and it will continue to promote a high-level opening-up to the world, Reuters reported. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) made the comments in response to Reuters questions regarding billionaire investor Mark Mobius' claims that he cannot take his money out of China due to its capital controls.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has admitted an insolvency petition against N Kumar Housing and Infrastructure Limited which was a corporate guarantor for Poonam Resorts Limited which has defaulted on a loan amounting to over Rs 60 crore, the Economic Times of India reported. Details of the insolvency petition show that the company which is the principal borrower and the one that stood as corporate guarantor had the same director — N Kumar. he petition was filed by the erstwhile Allahabad Bank, now merged into Indian Bank, for non-payment of over Rs 60 crore.

Bondholders are bracing for a potential default by Pakistan as the beleaguered nation struggles to meet billions of dollars in debt repayments by June, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s dollar bonds due next year slid to the lowest since November on Thursday as investors weighed its ability to honor $7 billion of repayments in the coming months, including a Chinese loan of $2 billion due in March, according to Fitch Ratings. The rupee slumped 6.7% to 285.09 per dollar at close, according to State Bank of Pakistan.

Sri Lanka's recent tax rises are in line with international comparisons and needed to help creditors regain confidence, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, backing the crisis-hit country's effort to lock down a $2.9 billion bailout, Reuters reported. An IMF statement said the hikes, which included an up to 36% rise in income taxes, were essential to tackle revenue collection that has been low by global standards. External financing would not bridge the gap needed to fund essential expenditure, the statement added.

Retail theft has hit record levels in Australia, government statistics show, putting pressure on grocery giants Woolworths Group Ltd and Coles Group Ltd that are already struggling with soaring supply costs and freight blockages, Reuters reported. Store theft rose 23.7% in New South Wales, the home state of a third of Australians, from 2021 to 2022, state government figures showed on Thursday, the fastest year-on-year increase since records began in 1995.

China is willing to "constructively" participate in solving the debt problems of relevant countries under a multilateral framework, its Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. China, the world's largest bilateral creditor, has criticised multilateral lenders for not accepting losses, or haircuts, on loans to low-income countries while Beijing is being asked to do so on credit it has extended on its own.