China's central bank on Thursday said it would keep policy flexible and precise to boost domestic demand, while maintaining price stability, amid signs of a patchy economic recovery and rising deflationary risks, Reuters reported. In its quarterly policy implementation report, the People's Bank of China said the authorities face some difficulties and challenges in promoting an economic recovery amid global uncertainties. "Prudent monetary policy should be flexible, moderate, precise and effective...

Deflation is becoming more entrenched in China, with consumer prices falling in January at their steepest pace in more than 14 years—a stark symptom of deepening economic malaise that spells trouble for the global economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The latest data suggest China faces a growing risk of slipping into a longer-term spell of falling prices that becomes harder to reverse the longer it lasts. That presents a special challenge for the rest of the world.

India’s central bank stuck to its hawkish policy stance on Thursday as inflation remains well above its target, suggesting it’s in no hurry to cut interest rates until later in the year, Bloomberg News reported. The Monetary Policy Committee voted five-to-one to keep the benchmark repurchase rate at 6.5%, a move predicted by all of the 42 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The panel also decided to retain its policy stance at “withdrawal of accommodation,” disappointing some analysts who had predicted a shift to neutral.

China has ousted the head of its securities watchdog, the official Xinhua news agency said, replacing him with a veteran regulator with a reputation for tough action as policymakers struggle to stabilise the country's stock markets, Reuters reported. The cabinet has replaced Yi Huiman as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) with Wu Qing, who has led the Shanghai Stock Exchange and served as a key deputy in Shanghai's municipal government, Xinhua said on Wednesday.

Distressed Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties plans to sell a property project in London by asking to receive some of its dollar bonds and just HK$1 (S$0.17) of cash, the Business Times reported. The defaulted builder signed a letter of intent to sell the holding company of Market Towers at 1 Nine Elms Lane, according to a filing late Tuesday (Feb 6) in Hong Kong. The mixed-used development is valued at £1.34 billion (S$2.27 billion) and includes 437 residential units and a hotel, it said.

Tech-stock valuations in the U.S. are beginning to look rich again. One likely consequence is the U.S. tech frenzy starting to spread to certain emerging markets, the Wall Street Journal reported. It is probably a good thing, then, that global investors are getting a timely reminder of what can happen when they rush into what looks like the next big thing without doing their homework.

New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 4.0% in the fourth quarter of last year from 3.9% in the third quarter, further confirming that a slowdown in the economy continues to play out, the Wall Street Journal reported. The unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points through 2023, up from 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022, Stats NZ said on Wednesday. “Unemployment rates have returned to 2019 levels, following recent historic lows,” Becky Collett, work and wellbeing statistics senior manager at Stats NZ, said.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has admitted listed infrastructure development company SKIL Infrastructure Ltd under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) following an application filed by its financial creditor, Amluckie Investment Company Ltd., the Economic Times of India reported. The tribunal has also appointed Purusottam Behera as its resolution professional.

Jaicorp’s vice chairman Virendra Jain and his son Ankit Jain have emerged the highest bidders for Chennai-based steel maker Kamachi Industries, a sick unit being liquidated after a failed insolvency resolution process, the Economic Times of India reported. The father-son duo offered to acquire the company as a going concern. Their bid of Rs. 487 crore has been made under a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)-monitored process initiated by State Bank of India in February 2020. Kamachi Industries defaulted on Rs 2,200 crore of loans granted by a consortium of five public sector banks.

In an attempt to bring harmony and reduce delays, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has now allowed the appointment of the same insolvency professional (IP) in the resolution or liquidation process of the corporate debtor (CD) and its personal guarantor (PG), the Financial Express reported. “Removal of this restriction will allow the appointment of the same IP in both the corporate process as well as the insolvency and bankruptcy proceeding of the PGs to the CDs for better harmonisation and effective coordination of both the processes,” the IBBI said on Saturday.