Two oil refiners in China run by chemical conglomerate Sinochem Group Co. were declared bankrupt, highlighting the headwinds older units face as margins plummet, Bloomberg News reported. The creditors of Zhenghe Group Co. and Shandong Huaxing Petrochemical Group Co., both based in the eastern province of Shandong, failed to agree on restructuring plans for the indebted plants and the businesses were declared bankrupt, according to separate statements from a local court. Sinochem didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment sent to its Beijing headquarters during a holiday in China.

Pub baron Jon Adgemis’ embattled Public Hospitality Group has taken another hit with receivers and external managers appointed at five of his Sydney hotels, including Oxford House and The Strand Hotel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Insolvency specialist FTI Consulting has stepped in as receivers and managers to operate Public’s hip Redfern pub The Norfolk, Oxford House in Paddington and Darlinghurst’s The Strand Hotel, as well as Alexandria’s Camelia Grove Hotel and The Exchange Hotel, also in Darlinghurst. The pubs will be sold as soon as possible.

IBBI Chairperson Ravi Mital on Tuesday asked insolvency professionals to be as transparent as possible during the resolution process as that will help in improving the bids and reduce haircuts, the Economic Times of India reported. Speaking at a conference organised by the Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI (IIIPI) in the national capital, he said that insolvency professionals and insolvency professional entities are the fulcrum of the insolvency system.

Thailand plans to raise government borrowing by about 8% in the fiscal year starting October to aid economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. About 1.1 trillion baht ($33 billion), or 41% of the total $78 billion, will be fresh borrowing to mainly finance the budget deficit, while the rest has been earmarked for refinancing and restructuring of existing debt. The Public Debt Management Office held a meeting with bond traders and fund managers on Monday in Bangkok.

A U.S. court ruling that placed into bankruptcy units associated with Indian education technology company Byju’s took an official in the firm’s home country by surprise, Bloomberg News reported. The decision, made at a Tuesday hearing in Delaware, will lead to involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy of units including Neuron Fuel Inc., Epic! Creations Inc. and Tangible Play Inc., court papers showed. The order was made as a default judgment after the units failed to share requested information with creditors.

Thailand expects less than 40 million people to sign up for its flagship digital wallet handout scheme, with the first phase set to be distributed to 14.5 million vulnerable people from Sept. 25, a finance ministry official said on Monday, Reuters reported. The government has planned to give away 450 billion baht ($13.6 billion) to 45 million people under its stimulus programme, which will see 10,000 baht ($300) transferred to each person who registers to spend in their localities within six months.

Chinese authorities have banned the accounting firm PwC for six months and fined it over 400 million yuan ($56.4 million) over its involvement in the audit of collapsed property developer Evergrande, the Associated Press reported. The punishment is the heaviest yet for international accounting firms operating in China. PwC will be banned from signing off on any financial results in the country for six months. Already, it has been losing clients.

New bank lending in China jumped less than expected in August after hitting a 15-year low in July, as the central bank keeps policy accommodative and pledges to roll out more supportive measures to bolster a fragile economic recovery, Reuters reported. Chinese banks extended 900 billion yuan ($126.86 billion) in new yuan loans in August, up 246% from July but short of analyst expectations, data released by the People's Bank of China showed on Friday.

Inflation in India ticked up a little in August, likely keeping policymakers at the country’s central bank on their toes as they plot whether to cut interest rates in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The consumer price index increased 3.65% on year in August, compared with 3.6% in the prior month, Indian government figures showed on Thursday. That compared with economists’ expectations of 3.5% from a FactSet poll. July’s level was the lowest since August 2019, before the pandemic and more recent geopolitical pressures.

China has for years had one of the lowest retirement ages among major economies. Men started life’s next chapter at age 60, while women did so as early as 50. But now, China’s next generation will have to work longer, the Wall Street Journal reported. To address looming pension-system shortfalls and economic strains, Beijing on Friday moved to gradually raise the statutory retirement age to 63 for men and 55 for blue-collar women. The retirement age for other women will increase to 58 from 55.