Chile’s economic activity unexpectedly contracted in August on a decline in services, corroborating the central bank’s message that more interest rate cuts are on the way, Bloomberg News reported. The Imacec index, a proxy for gross domestic product, fell 0.2% on the month, matching the worst estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts that had a median forecast of 0.3% growth. From the year earlier, activity gained 2.3%, the central bank reported on Tuesday.

The eurozone economy slowed sharply as the third quarter draws to a close, contrasting still-dynamic growth in the U.S., according to a series of business surveys released on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The eurozone surveys suggest that a soft landing from the surge in inflation that accompanied Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine could be in doubt.

Sweden’s Northvolt AB will shed 20% of its global workforce and pause its expansion plans to slow cash outflows as the battery-making firm confronts a burgeoning financial crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The company, which has struggled in its mission to stand up a home-grown supply of electric-vehicle batteries in Europe, said it will reduce its Swedish workforce by 1,600 positions as part of a strategic review that was announced this month. The money-saving move comes as Northvolt continues to negotiate a new financing pact with its creditors and investors.

The International Monetary Fund is focusing on a set of options to ease the additional debt burden it imposes on nations looking to escape financial distress, as it seeks to address complaints that its current system is overly punitive, Bloomberg News reported. The IMF’s executive board had a meeting this week to consider three potential changes to the so-called surcharges system, according to people familiar with the plan who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

Applications for bankruptcy rose in the first half of 2024, as did the number of people declared eventually bankrupt, the Straits Times reported. Recent Law Ministry (MinLaw) data shows that 2,334 people filed for bankruptcy in the six months to June 30, up 25 per cent on the same period in 2023, while 594 were later declared bankrupt, an increase of 11 percent. Read more. (Subscription required.)

The Czech central bank is in the process of easing its monetary policy but interest rates will stay higher than what they used to be over the past 10 years, according to Governor Ales Michl, Bloomberg News reported. Rate setters in Prague need to keep borrowing costs elevated for a longer period of time and avoid making rushed, ad-hoc monetary policy steps and experiments, Michl wrote in remarks about his trip to the annual gathering of policymakers and academics in Jackson Hole. “It’s better to have a more consistent, but overall more restrictive policy,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday named Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clarke to a top post at the agency, after the official spearheaded fiscal reforms in the Caribbean nation, Reuters reported. Clarke, nominated by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, is set to replace Antoinette Sayeh as one of the IMF's three deputy managing directors at the end of October.

Yuzhou Group Holdings Co. filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy Thursday in New York, a move by the defaulted property developer to seek US court recognition for its offshore debt restructuring and ward off litigation, Bloomberg News reported. The Chinese builder, which failed to pay $2.9 billion of dollar notes with interest as of the end of 2023, is undergoing restructuring in Hong Kong and Cayman Islands. Read more.

Synlait Milk said on Tuesday it aims to raise NZ$217.8 million ($133.34 million) from its top two investors in a bid to reduce its debt, a failure of which could lead to the New Zealand-based dairy producer's insolvency, Reuters reported. Synlait will issue shares worth NZ$185 million to Bright Dairy & Food Co at NZ$0.6 apiece, raising the Chinese company's stake in Synlait to 65.25% from 39.01%.

A mainland Chinese court accepted a liquidation application filed against a China Evergrande Group unit earlier this month, triggering a formal legal process that ratchets up the pressure on the defaulted developer to either restructure or face liquidation in its main base of operations under a worst-case scenario, Bloomberg News reported. The Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou City, where Evergrande is based, accepted the application filed against Guangzhou Kailong Real Estate as of Aug. 9, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing late Monday.