The Reserve Bank of Australia delivered a ninth consecutive increase in interest rates and signaled more to come, suggesting global central banks are headed down different paths as their battle with inflation enters a new phase, the Wall Street Journal reported. The latest increase of 0.25 percentage point took Australia’s benchmark interest rate to 3.35% from 3.10% and marked the first time that the RBA had tightened policy at nine straight meetings of its board. Explaining the move, ​RBA ​Gov. Philip Lowe said inflation was at its highest level in more than three decades.

The absence of Chinese visitors devastated Thailand, where officials say tourism accounted for a fifth of gross domestic product in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported. About a quarter of arrivals that year came from China, bringing in 40% of international tourism revenue. By the time Thailand reopened its borders in October 2021, many businesses that relied wholly on the Chinese market had collapsed. China’s strict zero-Covid policy kept its citizens from traveling abroad until rules were eased in January, raising hopes for a surge of pent-up demand.

Potential buyers are inquiring about purchasing the struggling crypto lender Hodlnaut and its claims against bankrupt digital-asset exchange FTX, Bloomberg News reported. “Various parties who are interested in acquiring” Singapore-based Hodlnaut’s crypto platform and FTX claims have contacted the interim judicial managers overseeing the company after it sought protection from creditors, according to an affidavit seen by Bloomberg News. The judicial managers are in the process of signing non-disclosure agreements with the potential investors, the document shows.

Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd jumped nearly 25% on Monday after the Indian government allowed the carrier to convert the $2 billion interest on dues owed to the sovereign into equity, which could free up some cash flows in the near term, Reuters reported. India had in 2021 approved a bailout package for the debt-strapped telecom companies, allowing them to convert interest on deferred adjusted gross revenue owed to the government into equity.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani said its founders will prepay a $1.1 billion loan that was backed by shares of some of its companies, a move to shore up investor confidence after a rout in its stock prices over the past two weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Adani Group said Monday that its so-called promoters—a term used to describe controlling shareholders—have posted amounts to pay off the loan ahead of its maturity in September 2024.

The National Company Law Tribunal, Chennai (NCLT) has approved the Resolution Plan of ASG Hospital for Vasan Health Care, the Times of India reported. This was the first case admitted in Chennai in April 2017 under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. After a two year stay of the process by Madras High Court, the insolvency process was revived on October 3, 2019. The total resolution plan amount is Rs 526 crore. This includes Rs 400 crore for payment to all the stakeholders including creditors and Rs 126 crore towards working capital and capex infusion to revive the eye care hospital.

A group of overseas private creditors is ready to hold debt restructuring talks with Sri Lanka consistent with the International Monetary Fund's programme, their legal adviser said on Friday, Reuters reported. The group "stands ready to engage quickly and effectively with the Sri Lankan authorities to design and implement restructuring terms that would help Sri Lanka restore debt sustainability and allow the country to re-gain access to the international capital markets," the creditor's legal adviser said in a letter to the Washington-based lender.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited politicians including opposition leader Imran Khan for a conference amid negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to avoid bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Sharif has called an all-parties conference on February 7 amid economic and terrorism challenges, state-run Pakistan Television reports. A team from the lender is visiting Pakistan until February 9 to revive its loan program. Sharif’s ruling coalition government toppled Khan as prime minister in a confidence vote last year.

Australia outlined plans to arm its officials with more tools to police the volatile crypto sector, including additional manpower for the securities regulator in the wake of the global implosion of the FTX exchange, Bloomberg News reported. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is expanding its digital-asset team and enforcement measures, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement Friday. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is boosting efforts to curb scams after a spate of demands for crypto ransoms.

The bankrupt FTX group of cryptocurrency companies extended the deadlines to bid for its Japan and Europe businesses as administrators strive to raise funds to help pay back creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The preliminary bid deadline is now March 8 and the auction date becomes April 26, according to a court filing on Wednesday. Administrators in December put several FTX units on the auction block, including LedgerX, the Japanese and Singaporean crypto exchanges, and the European digital assets and derivatives business.