China’s benchmark lending rates were held steady this month, central bank data showed Monday after Beijing announced bold moves to address property-sector malaise, the Wall Street Journal reported. The one-year loan prime rate was steady at 3.45% while the five-year rate was unchanged at 3.95%, according to the official data. Economists had expected the benchmark rates to be left untouched after the People’s Bank of China kept key policy rates, including the interest rate on the medium-term lending facility that is used to price LPRs, unchanged earlier this month.

There are enough unsold homes in China to house every family in California and New York combined. Beijing might finally tackle the problem with a huge outlay of cash, but investors should curb their enthusiasm, according to a Wall Street Journal commentary. It might not be enough, or it could overshoot and reignite the housing bubble. Beijing rolled out measures Friday to support the sluggish housing market. The most eye-catching move is that it would let local governments buy apartments at “reasonable prices” to use as affordable housing in places with excessive inventory.

Thailand’s economy grew in the first quarter as private consumption and tourism helped counter weakness in goods exports, but the outlook for the year remains cloudy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product rose 1.5% from a year earlier, compared with the 1.7% expansion seen in the final quarter of 2023, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council said on Monday.

The haircuts taken by creditors in Indian bankruptcy resolutions have increased to 73 percent in FY24 from the 64 percent in FY23, a report said on Friday, the Economic Times of India reported. A total of 269 resolution plans were approved by the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) in FY24, up from 189 in the year-ago period, the report by domestic rating agency Icra said. The new admissions declined to 987 in FY24 from the 1,263 in FY23, the agency said, attributing the same to a higher base in the previous fiscal because of the Covid-19 pandemic-related stress.

China rolled out its boldest steps yet to fix its broken housing market, as Beijing sought to finally bring to an end a drawn-out real-estate crunch that has hobbled its economy for years, the Wall Street Journal reported. The centerpiece of Friday’s measures is Beijing’s embrace of a policy already being tested in some cities in China—getting city and local authorities to buy up unsold homes and convert them into affordable housing for low- and middle-income families.

U.S. authorities charged two Chinese nationals in a cryptocurrency scam that laundered at least $73 million from defrauded victims, the Justice Department said on Friday, Reuters reported. U.S. officials arrested Yicheng Zhang in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in California's central district later that day. Daren Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested at the Atlanta airport in April. The U.S.

Shares of Chinese property developers surged on rising expectations that government entities in China are moving to help buy up excess housing in a bid to revive the struggling real-estate sector, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index, which tracks Chinese property developers listed in Hong Kong, was up 5.6% in afternoon trading Thursday. Sino-Ocean and CIFI rose 46% and 29%, respectively, while Longfor, China Vanke, Agile and Sunac China were each more than 10% higher.

The Japanese economy contracted in the first quarter of 2024, extending a rough patch and signaling that inflation fueled by a weak yen is hurting consumer demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. The economy’s overall performance contrasts with robust earnings reported recently by top Japanese exporters such as Toyota Motor and the stock market’s rise over the past year. The fall in the yen, which recently traded at a 34-year low against the dollar, helps exporters’ competitiveness and tends to lift their profits.

The Philippine central bank held its policy rate steady as it continues to guard against inflation risks, but the meeting has stirred speculation that its hawkish stance is softening, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas kept its benchmark overnight reverse repurchase rate unchanged at 6.50% on Thursday, extending a policy pause stretching back to November 2023. It also maintained its benchmark lending rate at 7.00%. Gov.

Unemployment in Australia jumped in April as more people searched for work, a rise that is likely to reduce pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise interest rates further, the Wall Street Journal reported. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in April from 3.9% in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. Economists had expected the jobless rate to remain steady at 3.9%. The increase in unemployment came despite the economy adding 38,500 new jobs over the month. That wasn’t enough to account for a rise of 68,800 in the number of people seeking employment.