State-backed Chinese property developer Greenland Holdings said on Friday that it plans to extend the repayment of its $488 million offshore bond maturing in June by one year, according to a transcript seen by Reuters and confirmed by sources who attended an investor call. Shanghai-based Greenland is the first state-backed developer to extend a dollar bond payment since the country's property sector plunged into a debt crisis last year.

Shanghai took more gradual steps on Friday towards lifting its COVID-19 lockdown while Beijing was investigating cases where its strict curbs were affecting other medical treatments as China soldiered on with its uneven exit from restrictions, Reuters reported. The financial hub and the capital have been hot spots, with a harsh two-month lockdown to arrest a coronavirus spike in Shanghai and tight movement restrictions to stamp out a small but stubborn outbreak in Beijing.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister said on Thursday that he will quickly prepare an economic reform program and seek approval from the International Monetary Fund — because global inflation and the financial impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on other countries could limit their ability to help the island nation, the Associated Press reported. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that officials have reached agreement on basic reforms concepts with the IMF and that he plans to have the economic reform program ready within two weeks.

Pakistan faces $6.4 billion in dollar debt due over the next three years as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s new government is trying to meet bailout terms set by the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The country, under pressure to keep its economy afloat and avert a sovereign default, needs about $3.16 billion to pay dollar bonds and loans this year, $1.52 billion next year and $1.71 billion in 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it made “good progress” in analysing Sri Lanka’s economic situation and identifying policy priorities, while cautioning that a loan would require adequate assurances that debt sustainability will be restored, Bloomberg News reported.

China's property market, a key pillar of the world's second-largest economy, has weakened sharply in the past year as a result of a government clampdown on excessive borrowings by developers, and a COVID-19-induced economic slowdown, Reuters reported. So far this year, more than 100 cities have taken steps to boost home purchase demand via cuts in mortgage rates, smaller down-payments, and subsidies. However, the outlook remains bleak as the government enforces strict COVID curbs in dozens of cities, weighing on consumer confidence.

China and the United States are committed to reach an arrangement on the audit inspection issue that is in line with legal and regulatory requirements for both sides, China's securities regulator said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The statement from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) came in response to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official saying "significant issues remain" in reaching a deal over U.S.-listed Chinese company audits.

Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will double up as finance minister leading bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. Wickremesinghe, who was appointed this month following violent unrest, was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Minister of Finance and Economic Stabilization and National Policies, according to a statement from the presidential media unit.

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. must pay its former business partner SL Green Realty Corp. about $185 million in a dispute over a bankrupt Manhattan skyscraper, an arbitrator said, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The arbitrator, former judge L. Priscilla Hall, found that real-estate investment trust SL Green was entitled to a $184.6 million payment over an investment that it made in HNA Group’s 245 Park Ave., according to documents made public in a New York state court on Friday. SL Green should also be reimbursed for $856,000 in fees, she said.

A large creditor of failed Wellington construction company Armstrong Downes Commercial is trying to replace the liquidators with someone with “some teeth” to ensure subcontractors get paid, Stuff.nz reported. Armstrong Downes (ADC) shareholders had appointed David Ruscoe​​ and Russell Moore​​ from Grant Thornton as liquidators. However, Lower Hutt developer Kevin Melville, whose High St Holdings 2020 Ltd was a client, said he wanted to replace them with Damien Grant of Waterstone Insolvency as the new liquidator. ADC had two directors, Doile​ and Taylor​.