Sri Lanka and a group of creditors are in advanced talks over a deal aimed at restructuring the nation’s debt with bilateral lenders, Bloomberg News reported. The government and members of the official creditor committee, which includes India, Hungary and the Paris Club, are exchanging draft versions of the accord, or memorandum of understanding. The documents are needed to finalize an agreement reached in November between the South Asian nation and the official creditor committee and hash out the few remaining issues before a deal is settled.
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Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration is discussing ways to exert more control over the country’s central bank after repeatedly clashing with the monetary authority on economic policy, Bloomberg News reported. One of the measures under discussion focuses on the Bank of Thailand’s board chairman role, which will open up in September, the people said. While the chairman doesn’t have powers to dictate monetary policy, the official can evaluate the BOT governor’s performance as well as have a say in which outside experts join the Monetary Policy Committee.
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A private gauge of China’s services sector signaled the fastest pace of growth in 10 months in May, echoing official data thanks to strong business activity and market demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Caixin services purchasing managers index increased to 54.0 in May from 52.5 in April, Caixin Media Co. and S&P Global said Wednesday. The index, which has now stayed in expansion territory for 17 straight months, reached its highest level since July 2023. A reading above 50 suggests expansion, while one below indicates contraction.
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Turkey is considering taxing proceeds from investments in stocks and cryptoassets as part of a fiscal tightening push. Stocks and the lira fell on the news, Bloomberg News reported. Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek discussed the plans during a ruling-party meeting over the weekend, AK Party officials told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified as the discussions were private. Simsek emphasized the need for proper taxation of all financial income during the meeting, the people said. Turkey cut the tax rate on profits from stock-market trading to 0% from 10% in 2008.
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The Korean owners of one of Frankfurt’s best known skyscrapers failed to agree a restructuring plan for a loan tied to the building, paving the way for insolvency proceedings, Bloomberg News reported. A fund managed by IGIS Asset Management confirmed the event of default for the debt linked to Trianon tower in Germany’s financial capital.
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A group of creditors of China South City has filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong against the developer's biggest state-owned shareholder to recover $1.4 billion, according to a court filing and a source familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. The lawsuit is the first such case against a Chinese state shareholder of a developer for recovery of payments owed to creditors under the keepwell provision since the property sector tipped into a debt crisis in 2021.
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Vietnam's central bank lent another $1.2 billion to ailing Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank over the last two months, according to a bank document seen by Reuters, taking the total to $24.5 billion as part of its efforts to rescue depositors. The massive bailout of Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank's (SCB) depositors has so far cost the central bank the equivalent of 6% of Vietnam's 2023 gross domestic product in special loans.
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said the central bank must be "very vigilant" to the impact the yen's moves could have on the economy, suggesting the currency's weakness will be among factors affecting the timing of its next interest rate hike, Bloomberg News reported. However, he said that it was inappropriate for central banks to directly target exchange rates in setting monetary policy, as other factors needed to be considered as well. "Exchange-rate fluctuations affect economic activity in various ways.
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India's Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Adisri Commercial’s appeal against the admission of insolvency proceedings against SREI Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) and SREI Equipment Finance (SEFL). It imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on the Srei Group shareholder for filing such a frivolous petition, the Economic Times of India reported.
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The bankruptcy court in Allahabad admitted Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) for corporate insolvency almost six years after ICICI Bank filed an application, the Economic Times of India reported. The tribunal, while admitting the company under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) has also appointed Bhuvan Madan as interim resolution professional (IRP) of the company, said two people aware of the development. The private sector lender had approached the tribunal after the company failed to pay its dues of about Rs 3,000 crore.
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