The value of Chinese debt relief decreased by over 50% between 2021 and 2022, a report from Rhodium Group showed, with Angola alone receiving two thirds of deferrals despite China backing multilateral efforts to standardise support for poor countries, Reuters reported. As the world's largest bilateral creditor, China is central to talks on making tangible progress in providing debt relief to emerging and frontier markets through the Group of 20-led "Common Framework" as well as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said recent price rises were stronger than previously projected and inflation expectations were moving up, a sign the economy is getting closer to achieving the bank's 2% inflation target, Reuters reported. While stressing the need to keep ultra-loose monetary policy for now, Himino said the economy was beginning to see a mix of cost-push inflation and price gains driven by domestic demand. "The pass-through of rising imported goods prices is broadening with a lag.

Go First, the low-cost carrier currently under bankruptcy protection, has received approval for interim funding of Rs 450 crore from its lenders, the Times of India reported. The funding, approved during a joint lenders’ meeting over the weekend, is crucial for revival after the company’s aircraft were grounded in May following insolvency proceedings. The decision to grant in-principle approval for the interim funds was made during the meeting, subject to the respective boards of the banks providing their final approval.

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a program to restructure the country's staggering domestic debt as the island nation struggles to emerge from an economic crisis that has engulfed it since last year, the Associated Press reported. The domestic debt restructuring is required as part of a bailout package obtained from the International Monterey Fund, under which nearly $3 billion in government budgetary support will be disbursed in stages. Sri Lanka’s total debt exceeds $83 billion, of which $41.5 billion is foreign and $42.1 billion is domestic.

Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Ant Group said that they would allow users to link international credit cards to their platforms, an issue that has long plagued foreign visitors as the country’s payment system has kept credit cards out for years, Reuters reported. Tencent, operator of the popular chat app WeChat and payment network WeChat Pay, said on Wednesday that WeChat users overseas can link credit cards issued by Visa Inc to their WeChat app from next month. Foreign tourists can then pay with WeChat when traveling in mainland China.

The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved a joint proposal presented by the President and the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reform to authorize the Law Commission to prepare a preliminary draft of the insolvency laws within a period of three (03) months after consultation with the relevant parties, LankaBusinessOnline.com reported. Reforms in the insolvency laws for unincorporated small businesses and consumer insolvency are contained in the Insolvency Ordinance 1853, and provisions relating to company insolvency are contained in the Companies Act No.

China’s local government funding problems last year were even worse than most economists thought. At least $12 billion worse. That is the boost Chinese local governments got to their revenues after a series of fictitious sales of land and other state-owned assets, according to the country’s national audit office, the Wall Street Journal reported. The disclosure means that even the official data, which showed a sharp drop in land sales and local government revenues last year, painted a more positive picture than was accurate.

A Singapore judge handed a 12-month prison term to a businessman for conspiring to misappropriate money in the Wirecard AG scandal, Bloomberg News reported. Henry Yeo, a director at Jacobson Fareast Marketing Services Pte, was convicted after pleading guilty to three charges in a Singapore state court on Tuesday. “Wirecard Asia suffered a total loss of S$123,070 ($91,072) as a result of the accused’s participation in the conspiracy to dishonestly misappropriate money from its account,” deputy public prosecutor Vincent Ong said in court.

Pakistan’s prime minister said Tuesday he was hopeful the International Monetary Fund will make its decision in a day or two on the fate of the much-needed $6 billion bailout package for his country, the Associated Press reported. The remarks by Shahbaz Sharif came after he spoke to Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF chief, according to a government statement. The two also met last week, on the sidelines of a global financing meeting in Paris.

The committee of creditors (CoC) for Go First Airlines has approved an in-principle interim funding of ₹425 crore so that the grounded carrier, the first in the country to voluntarily seek bankruptcy protection, manages to fly again soon, the Economic Times of India reported. The funding is, however, subject to the carrier being given a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Permissions linked to the funding are the DGCA's green light to allow the airline to fly and a security clearance.