Advisers to China's government will recommend authorities set a 2022 economic growth target below the one set for 2021, giving policymakers more room to push structural reforms amid growing challenges to the outlook, Reuters reported. Investors are closely watching for clues on next year's policy and reform agenda as President Xi Jinping and other top leaders hold the annual Central Economic Work Conference due this month.

Turkey’s central bank moved Wednesday to prop up the country’s collapsing currency, selling foreign reserves after the lira reached new lows following comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in defense of his unorthodox economic policies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The lira rebounded after the bank said it was taking action to address “unhealthy price formations in exchange rates.” The free-falling lira has heaped economic pressure on ordinary Turkish people, who are struggling with rising prices of food, fuel, medicine and other essential goods.

The European Union will seek to mobilize 300 billion euros ($340 billion) in public and private infrastructure investments by 2027 to offer developing countries an alternative to China’s massive Belt and Road program, Bloomberg News reported. The EU’s “Global Gateway” project unveiled on Wednesday outlines spending on digital, transport, energy and health projects. And while the proposal doesn’t mention China directly, it offers a counter to Beijing’s overseas development plan that critics say has pushed countries to unsustainable levels of indebtedness.

The specter of freezing weather in Japan and surging energy prices are raising risks the nation’s power retailers could follow their U.K. and Singaporean peers into bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Japan’s government and utilities, stung by last year’s record rally in spot electricity prices, are now preparing for what could be the tightest power supply in a decade. Liquefied natural gas inventories have been boosted to their highest seasonal level in five years, while some regional utility companies are curbing power output.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has initiated insolvency proceedings against NCR-based real estate firm MGF Developments Limited, on a petition filed by a group of homebuyers, the Economic Times of India reported. The NCLT has also appointed a Interim Resolution Professional. “Since, the financial creditor satisfies all the requirement of section 7 of IBC, 2016. We are therefore, satisfied that the applicant/financial creditor has made out a case under Section 7 IBC for admission and a clear case of default has been established.

Indonesia’s central bank bought 58 trillion rupiah ($4 billion) of government bonds, the first transaction in its latest round of debt monetization, Bloomberg News reported. Bank Indonesia purchased 14.5 trillion rupiah each of four series of notes due in five to eight years via a private placement, the finance ministry’s debt management office said on Tuesday. Future bond-buying by the central bank will be done gradually, in line with the government’s need to fund its pandemic stimulus, the office said in a statement Tuesday.

Turkey’s top investigative body will focus on foreign currency purchases when it probes the reasons behind the lira’s plunge in November, Bloomberg News reported. Investigators from the State Supervisory Council will be authorized to seek prosecution if criminal activity is suspected, the person told Bloomberg on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose confidential details. The state-run Anadolu Agency, which first reported the impending probe on Saturday, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the council to determine whether currency manipulation took place.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has superseded the board of Reliance Capital (RCL) and appointed former Bank of Maharashtra executive director Y Nageswar Rao as an administrator of the company, the Economic Times of India reported. The action by the central bank was taken "in view of the defaults by RCL in meeting the various payment obligations to its creditors and serious governance concerns which the board has not been able to address effectively," RBI said in a press release.

China’s property boom has spawned numerous developers that, like industry giant China Evergrande Group, borrowed heavily to fund breakneck growth. Now they are inflicting unprecedented losses on international investors as credit grows scarce and sales of new homes decline, the Wall Street Journal reported. Investors have dumped their bonds, setting off alarms over the companies’ finances. While Evergrande so far has been able to cobble together funds to make last-minute bond payments, at least four developers have reneged on their dollar bonds since early October.

Australian securities regulator said on Tuesday it has filed six civil penalty proceedings against Westpac Banking Corp., the country's third-largest bank, alleging widespread compliance failures across its business over many years, Reuters reported. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in a statement, alleged multiple Westpac brands were involved in fees-for-no-service, distribution of duplicate insurance policies and sale of credit card and flexi-loan debt with incorrect interest rates, among others.