Australia’s quarterly inflation data this week may be key to whether the Reserve Bank finally embarks on a monetary easing cycle soon, and in turn, help decide the timing of an election due by May 17, Bloomberg News reported. While money markets are pricing about an 80% chance the RBA will cut the cash rate at its Feb. 17-18 meeting, much depends on price data scheduled for release on Wednesday. Economists expect the trimmed mean inflation — the more closely-watched gauge less affected by the impact of recent government rebates — to have eased to 3.3%, a three-year low.

New Zealand relaxed its visa requirements for remote workers on Monday, as the country looked to spur economic growth by courting “digital nomads,” the skilled professionals who can work from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection, the New York Times reported. With the new policy, a New Zealand visitor visa, which allows foreigners to remain for up to nine months, now also permits them to work for overseas employers during that time, which had been forbidden.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday set aside a plea against HUL, filed by an operational creditor seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against the FMCG major, the Economic Times of India reported. The appellate tribunal has upheld an order passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which on September 5, 2024 had set aside a plea filed under Section 9 of IBC by K Lakshmi Narayana, Proprietor of Lalithambica Enterprises, alleging default.

The Reserve Bank of India said on Monday that it has superseded the board of Aviom India Housing Finance due to governance concerns and payment defaults and plans to start bankruptcy proceedings against the company, Reuters reported. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it has appointed Ram Kumar, the former chief general manager of state-run Punjab National Bank as the administrator for the housing finance company. It did not specify the nature of the governance concerns.

China Vanke, one of China’s largest property developers, said on Monday that its top executives were stepping down and warned of a $6.2 billion loss for 2024, the latest sign that China’s grueling multiyear property downturn has not reached the bottom, the New York Times reported. In a filing in Hong Kong, Vanke said that its chairman, Yu Liang, would leave his post for “work adjustment reasons.” Zhu Jiusheng, the chief executive, would resign “due to health reasons,” the company said.

China’s official gauge of factory activity tumbled into contractionary territory in January as factories suspended operations days ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49.1 in January from 50.1 in December, according to data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics. That ended a three-month streak of the gauge staying above the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction.

A Hong Kong court delayed a hearing on Sino-Ocean Group Holding’s restructuring agreement with lenders, as the state-linked builder awaits a decision later this month on a UK case involving a debt plan for all creditors, Bloomberg News reported. Sino-Ocean earlier said that a group of loan lenders holding 86.2 percent of its debt had voted in favour of the Hong Kong scheme, passing a threshold of 75 per cent required for the restructuring arrangement in the city. The next Hong Kong hearing is set for Feb 19, “given the pending decision of the English Court”, according to a company filing.

A creditor to an overseas arm of China’s largest construction company is asking a U.S. bankruptcy court to help investigate whether the firm may have committed fraud, Bloomberg News reported. China Construction America Inc. filed for chapter 11 in New Jersey last month. The company is a subsidiary of state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corp. The largest unsecured creditor of the case, BML Properties Ltd., wants the court to appoint an examiner to look for potential fraud and misconduct, according to a motion filed on Thursday.

The bankruptcy court in Mumbai approves IHL Lifesciences Pvt Ltd's acquisition of the listed firm Parental Drugs India Ltd, the Economic Times of India reported. Before the tribunal’s approval, the Company's Committee of Creditors (CoC) had approved IHL Lifesciences’ resolution plan for Parental Drugs India with 100% of the vote.

India’s central bank purchased a large quantum of bonds last week, with the monetary authority stepping in to ease a cash crunch that is currently at its widest level in more than a decade, Bloomberg News reported. Central bank data released after local trading hours on Friday showed that the Reserve Bank of India purchased government securities worth 101.75 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in the week ended Jan. 17. This marks the highest weekly purchase since August 2021, archival central bank data showed.