Sri Lanka’s central bank chief said Thursday he is hopeful the crisis-ridden island nation can reach a preliminary agreement that could lead to a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund when officials from the financial institution visit Sri Lanka later this month, the Associated Press reported. The Indian Ocean country is facing its worst economic crisis and has been negotiating with the IMF while government leaders in Colombo have said Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt.

Turkey’s central bank on Thursday lowered its key interest rate despite inflation surging to nearly 80% and making it difficult for people to buy what they need, falling in line with the unorthodox economic views of the country’s president, the Associated Press reported. In a statement following a monetary policy committee meeting, the bank said it decided to reduce the policy rate from 14% to 13%. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pressured the bank into lowering borrowing costs in a bid to boost economic growth, investment and exports, insisting that interest rate hikes cause inflation.

For decades, buying property was considered a safe investment in China. Now, instead of building a foundation of wealth for the country’s middle class, real estate has become a source of discontent and anger, the New York Times reported. In more than 100 cities across China, hundreds of thousands of Chinese homeowners are banding together and refusing to repay loans on unfinished properties, one of the most widespread acts of public defiance in a country where even minor protests are quelled.

State-owned SBI has filed an insolvency petition against the country's largest sugar firm Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd, the Economic Times of India reported. SBI as a financial creditor has filed the plea before the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In a regulatory filing, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd informed that "we understand that State Bank of India, financial creditor through its advocate has initiated Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd." The petition has been filed under Section 7 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.

China's central bank is set to take more easing steps, pressured by a shaky economy that is undercutting jobs, but it faces limited room to manoeuvre due to worries over rising inflation and capital flight, policy insiders and analysts said, Reuters reported. Analysts now expect cuts in the country's benchmark lending rates as early as Monday, after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) unexpectedly lowered two key rates this week as data showed the economy unexpectedly slowed in July.

China will boost economic demand in a strong, reasonable and moderate manner and accelerate infrastructure construction in the third quarter of the year, officials from the state planner said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The comments came after bleak data for July, which showed the world's second-biggest economy unexpectedly slowed and property investment falling at the fastest clip this year.

China’s embattled developers surged in the stock and bond markets Tuesday on news that authorities are planning to help some raise fresh financing, adding to signs of official support for an industry grappling with a debt crisis and slumping home sales, Bloomberg News reported. Notes from Country Garden Holdings Co., CIFI Holdings Group Co. and Longfor Group Holdings Ltd. soared at least 11 cents on the dollar Tuesday, according to Bloomberg-compiled prices, set for the biggest gains since March.

Malaysia's top court on Tuesday denied a request by former Prime Minister Najib Razak to introduce new evidence in his final appeal against a 12-year jail sentence for a case linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal, Reuters reported. Najib faces dozens of charges over the alleged theft of $4.5 billion from 1MDB, a state fund he co-founded as premier in 2009, in a wide-ranging scandal that has ensnared high-ranking officials and financial institutions stretching from Hollywood to the Middle East.

Pakistan’s rupee, bonds and stocks are rallying as investors bet the nation will win a bailout from the International Monetary Fund this month and avoid a default, Bloomberg News reported. Dollar bonds due in December were indicated at about 95 cents on the dollar on Tuesday from a low of 85 cents in July, as investors turn more confident the debt will be repaid. The rupee surged 11% this month to 213.87 per dollar as of Monday, the biggest gainer in the world. The benchmark stock index climbed 9%, the top performer in Asia after Sri Lanka.

Asia cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex Pte Ltd was granted more than three months of protection from creditors by Singapore’s High Court, giving the troubled firm breathing room to come up with a funding plan, Bloomberg News reported. Justice Aedit Abdullah gave each of the five Zipmex entities a moratorium until Dec. 2. That will shield the companies from potential creditor lawsuits. The firm operates out of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia and was seeking a five-month protection from creditors to form a restructuring plan.