China’s economy limped through August. A prolonged slump in the real-estate market deepened. Factories were hit by sinking exports, and consumers kept a tight leash on spending, the Wall Street Journal reported. A new batch of data on Thursday heaped further pressure on China’s policy makers to do more to revive crumbling growth, with a dizzying mix of targeted measures so far showing little effect. On Thursday evening, the country’s central bank lowered the minimum down payment for some borrowers, an attempt to spur home buying.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday issued notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in a plea by IDBI Bank to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company, the Hindu Business Line reported. IDBI Bank, in its plea, said it was unable to recover unpaid dues of around ₹150 crore from Zee. The tribunal instructed both parties to submit replies and rejoinders, setting the next hearing for the matter on October 11.

India’s economy registered impressive growth of 7.8% in the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June), attributed to good performance by the agriculture and financial sectors, according to official data released on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. The World Bank says India is one of the fastest-growing economies of the world and is poised to continue on this path. India's agriculture sector recorded growth of 3.5% in three months, up from 2.4% in the April-June quarter last year, according to the data released by the government-run National Statistical Office.

The People’s Bank of China is drafting preliminary policies to give private businesses better access to funding as authorities ramp up efforts to boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. Central bank leaders and officials from other financial watchdogs met with representatives from more than 10 banks as well as private companies, including property developers and manufacturers, on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

Some of the biggest local and international banks in Singapore are becoming embroiled in one of the city-state’s largest money laundering cases involving more than S$1 billion ($740 million) of assets, Bloomberg News reported. In charge sheets seen by Bloomberg News, some of the individuals who were arrested and charged this month held funds totaling millions — from unlicensed moneylending in China and illegal gambling — in United Overseas Bank Ltd. and the local units of Citigroup Inc. and RHB Bank Bhd.

China is flashing new signs of financial stress almost on a daily basis, with a property giant making fresh efforts to avoid default and a state-run bad debt manager suffering a bond slump on worries about its own health, Bloomberg News reported. In the latest indication of its liquidity struggle, Country Garden Holdings Co. has proposed a grace period of 40 calendar days for a maturing yuan bond as it seeks to win creditor support to stretch payment into 2026.

China’s largest banks are preparing to cut interest rates on existing mortgages and deposits, the latest state-directed measures to shore up growth in the world’s second-largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. An announcement that big state-owned lenders are reducing rates on the majority of the nation’s 38.6 trillion yuan ($5.3 trillion) of outstanding mortgages may come as soon as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter. The reductions will only affect loans on first homes, two of the people said. Lenders such as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

China will extend preferential tax policies for foreign nationals working in the country through to the end of 2027, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, in a boon to foreign firms struggling to attract talent post-COVID, Reuters reported. The government proposed scrapping the provision of non-taxable allowances for foreign workers in 2022, but decided to extend the scheme on a review basis until the end of this year.

Japan's financial regulator will closely monitor how central bank policy impacts regional banks, as the world's third-largest economy approaches the normalisation of its monetary settings after years of massive easing, Reuters reported. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) "will monitor how potential changes in the financial markets and client situations will affect regional banks' profits and health," the regulator said in its annual policy outlook released on Tuesday.

China's surprise move to slow the pace of mainland initial public offerings (IPOs) in an attempt to bolster the secondary market will cloud the fundraising plans of hundreds of companies and will weigh on the economy, bankers and lawyers said, Reuters reported. The regulatory decision was part of a package of measures unveiled by Beijing over the weekend to revive a lagging stock market and boost investor confidence in the world's second-largest economy, which is fast losing its growth momentum.