Turkey’s inflation climbed to a nearly two-decade high in December on the back of a weakening lira that is driving up the cost of food and other basic goods and destabilizing the wider economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Annual inflation rose to 36.08% last month, up from 21.3% in November, the Turkish Statistical Institute said Monday—the highest inflation rate since 2002, according to economists. The rampant inflation raises new concerns that it could overwhelm a government rescue plan unveiled last month to stabilize the battered local currency.

Australia's government said the milder impact of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 meant the country could push ahead with plans to reopen the economy even as new infections hit a record of more than 37,000 and the number of people hospitalised rose, Reuters reported. Record daily case numbers were reported on Monday in the states of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory.

Canada's Centerra Gold on Monday confirmed it was in talks with the Kyrgyzstan government for an out-of-court settlement over a dispute in which the state seized the company's Kumtor mine, Reuters reported. In May 2021, Centerra kicked off arbitration against the former Soviet republic after it took over the country's biggest mine for allegedly posing danger to human lives or the environment. The company also froze the government's stake when it seized the mine, meaning it does not have voting rights, nor is it entitled to dividends.

China Evergrande Group halted trading in its shares following local media reports that the company has been ordered to tear down apartment blocks in a development in Hainan province, Bloomberg News reported. The shares were suspended pending an announcement containing inside information, Evergrande said in a brief statement. A local government in Hainan told Evergrande to demolish 39 buildings in 10 days because the building permit was illegally obtained, Cailian reported on Saturday. The project is on artificially built islands off the coast of Hainan.

Sri Lanka’s federal Cabinet will meet Monday to decide whether or not to seek bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund as the nation struggles with limited options to address upcoming debt maturities, Bloomberg News reported. The group of ministers will be joined by central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as well as Treasury Secretary Sajith Attygalle, according to Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, whose Sri Lanka Freedom Party members have favored approaching the Washington-based lender.

The cost of borrowing money in Turkey is surging, a sign that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy of driving down interest rates is starting to backfire, Bloomberg News reported. Since the central bank began slashing rates in September, the yield on 10-year government bonds has climbed more than 7 percentage points, touching an all-time high of 24.9% on Wednesday. It stands at more than 10 percentage points above the bank’s benchmark repo, the biggest premium on record.

Singapore's economy expanded at its fastest annual pace in over a decade in 2021 as the country emerged from its worst recession on record, caused by the deep hit to activity from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The city-state's economy grew 7.2% in 2021, preliminary data showed on Monday, broadly in line with the government's official projection and rebounding from the record 5.4% contraction in 2020.

More changes have been proposed to strengthen the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 by the Insolvency Law Committee, Bloomberg News reported. These include a swifter admission process, a time limit on acceptance of resolution plans, more stringent measures against avoidable transactions and wrongful trading, and a formal closure of the voluntary liquidation process. The ILC was constituted in November 2017, by the central government. It has since issued four reports on the basis of which the ministry has recommended changes to the IBC.

Praxis Home Retail Ltd has settled with regulator Sebi a case of alleged violation of market norms, by paying over Rs20 lakh towards settlement charges, the Economic Times of India reported. The firm had allegedly failed to make disclosures of certain material events, in accordance with the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements norms. The material events pertain to a company petition that was filed against the company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process for its failure to make payment.

Indian tax officials have seized more than $30 million in cash and gold in raids on suspected tax evaders this week including a record haul of 1.94 billion rupees ($26 million) and 23 kg of gold ahead of assembly elections in five states, Reuters reported. The raids triggered a flurry of accusations from rival political parties over protection for tax evaders as they prepare to compete in the elections, including in the bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh.