Japan’s inflation has hit 4% for the first time in more than four decades, an outcome likely to keep speculation of a monetary policy change smoldering as prices grow at twice the pace targeted by the Bank of Japan, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 4% in December from a year ago, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday. The result matched economists’ estimate, and was led by further gains in energy and food costs.

South Korea's producer inflation slowed in December for a sixth month, dropping to the lowest rate in 20 months, central bank data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. The country's producer price index stood 6% higher in December than a year ago, compared with 6.2% in November, according to the Bank of Korea. The annual rate slowed for a sixth consecutive month, from a near 14-year high of 10% in June, and marked the slowest since April 2021. The index fell 0.3% on a monthly basis, at the same pace seen in November, in its second month of declines.

Built near a spewing volcano, it was the biggest infrastructure project ever in Ecuador, a concrete colossus bankrolled by Chinese cash and so important to Beijing that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, spoke at the 2016 inauguration. Today, thousands of cracks have emerged in the $2.7 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, government engineers said, raising concerns that Ecuador’s biggest source of power could break down, the Wall Street Journal reported. At the same time, the Coca River’s mountainous slopes are eroding, threatening to damage the dam.

China’s housing market flipped from being a growth driver to an economic drag in 2022, with sales slumping, prices falling and widespread job losses. The prognosis for this year isn’t much better, compounding Beijing’s efforts to get its economy back on firmer footing, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales of new residential properties in the country tumbled 28% last year to the equivalent of $1.7 trillion in value terms, a five-year low.

India's junior IT minister on Thursday said there was no issue with cryptocurrencies in India if all laws are followed, in remarks that contradicted the central bank's view advising investors to stay away from crypto, Reuters reported. India has been trying to come up with regulation for cryptocurrencies, with a central bank deputy governor even calling for them to be banned, but the government has not been able to formulate legislation yet.

Japan recorded a record high trade deficit for 2022 of 19.97 trillion yen ($156 billion) as energy imports surged, the Finance Ministry said Thursday, the Associated Press reported. The deficit was the biggest since Japan began keeping comparable records in 1979, the ministry said. Both imports and exports jumped to record highs. Exports, led by autos, rose 18% from the year before, to 98 trillion yen ($766 billion). Imports, including oil, coal and natural gas, rose 39% on year to 118 trillion yen ($922 billion).

Turkey’s central bank added ambiguity to the direction of its policy as it left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, Reuters reported. The Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Sahap Kavcioglu, kept the benchmark at 9% for a second straight month, matching the forecasts of all but one economist in a Bloomberg survey. But unlike last month, the MPC’s latest guidance didn’t describe the current level of rates as “adequate,” a change that could be setting the stage for more monetary easing, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Coinbase Global Inc. is halting its operations in Japan due to volatile market conditions, the cryptocurrency exchange said on Wednesday, days after it announced job cuts amid waning demand for digital assets, Reuters reported. The move comes just weeks after rival exchange Kraken said it was ceasing its business in the country. "Japan is unlikely a material contributor to Coinbase revenue," Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau said, adding the company has been examining the market for some time but just got the license from the Japanese regulator a year and a half ago.

The Bank of Japan kept its interest-rate targets unchanged Wednesday despite strong pressure from investors on the bank’s new 0.5% cap for the 10-year government bond yield, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Japanese central bank decided to leave short-term interest rates at minus 0.1% and its target for the 10-year Japanese government bond yield at around zero. The bank reiterated that it intends to cap that yield at 0.5%. In a surprise move on Dec. 20, the BOJ lifted the cap to 0.5% from the previous ceiling of 0.25%. While Gov.