Crypto lender Amber Group is weighing options for its Japan unit, including a possible sale, and plans to apply for a Hong Kong license following the city’s pivot toward creating a digital-asset hub, Bloomberg News reported. The evaluation of the Japan operation is part of a strategic decision to focus more on institutional rather than retail business, Amber’s Managing Partner Annabelle Huang said on Friday. Japan is a “very high quality market, but regulations are strict,” Huang said, adding the firm doesn’t have an announcement at the moment about a deal.

China's exports unexpectedly surged in March, with officials flagging rising demand for electric vehicles, but analysts cautioned the improvement partly reflects suppliers catching up with unfulfilled orders after last year's COVID-19 disruptions, Reuters reported. Exports in March shot up 14.8% from a year ago, snapping five straight months of declines. But analysts say the jump was more likely related to exporters rushing to fulfil a backlog of orders that had been disrupted by the pandemic in past months, and warned the global demand outlook remained subdued.

China is softening its stance over how to restructure billions of dollars of debt held by poor nations, offering a glimmer of progress in long-stalled talks over unlocking desperately needed aid, Bloomberg News reported. Discussions under way Wednesday in Washington during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Spring Meetings were aimed at ending a deadlock among the biggest creditor nations on how to renegotiate poorer nations’ debt, which had become unsustainable amid surging inflation and a stronger dollar.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru has admitted Mantri Developers Pvt. Ltd., a Bengaluru-based real estate firm, into the insolvency process and appointed Ahsan Ahmad as the insolvency resolution professional (IRP) to oversee the proceedings, the Economic Times of India reported. The decision follows an application by Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, which claimed the developer defaulted on dues exceeding Rs 456.68 crore ($6.2 million), including principal and interest.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said China and the U.S. have a responsibility to set aside their differences and help countries such as his get the debt relief they need to avoid further damage to their economies, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. With finance officials from around the world gathering in Washington this week for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank biannual meetings, Mr. Hichilema’s country is emerging as a focal point of discussions on how to restructure poor nations’ debts. U.S.

Chinese provinces plan to boost spending on major construction projects by almost a fifth this year as Beijing continues to rely on infrastructure to spur an economy being hindered by consumers still bruised from years of pandemic restrictions, Bloomberg News reported. About two thirds of China’s regions have announced spending plans for major projects such as transport infrastructure, energy generation and industrial parks this year, adding up to more than 12.2 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion), according to a Bloomberg analysis of government statements and state-media reports.

China's consumer inflation hit an 18-month low and factory-gate price declines sped up in March as demand stayed persistently weak, shoring up the case for policymakers to take more steps to support the uneven economic recovery, Reuters reported. In contrast to surging prices globally, China's retail and producer inflation has remained anaemic as the consumer and industrial sectors struggle to recover from their pandemic hit. Analysts now think consumer inflation could fall short of Beijing's official targets this year.

China's new bank lending hit an all-time high in the first quarter while broad credit growth quickened as the central bank kept up policy support for the economy after the lifting of stringent COVID-19 curbs, Reuters reported. The world's second-largest economy rebounded from pandemic disruptions driven by consumption and infrastructure. To spur credit growth, the central bank in March cut banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for the first time this year.

Australia’s consumer confidence surged and business sentiment showed ongoing resilience after the country’s Reserve Bank left its key interest rate unchanged for the first time in its almost yearlong tightening cycle, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer sentiment jumped 9.4% in April to 85.8, a Westpac Banking Corp. survey showed Tuesday. Still Westpac’s Chief Economist Bill Evans expects household spending this year to be lackluster with confidence remaining 10.4% below the level in April 2022, the month before the RBA began raising rates. A separate National Australia Bank Ltd.

South Korea's central bank on Tuesday held interest rates steady and warned against expectations for a rate cut within this year, saying cooling but still high inflation posed a bigger risk than an economic slump. Remarks by the bank's governor at a news conference were largely neutral, but economists said the unanimous rate decision indicated the board has turned more dovish than at the previous meeting, when there was one member voting for a hike. The Bank of Korea's board kept the base rate unchanged at 3.50%, as it did on Feb. 23 and as expected.