Headlines

China's electric vehicle industry, the world's largest and most advanced, is facing mounting financial strain as fierce competition and overcapacity push many companies toward bankruptcy, UPI.com reported. While the sector has expanded rapidly on the back of strong battery manufacturing and artificial intelligence capabilities, analysts warn that structural weaknesses are emerging beneath the surface. China produced nearly 17 million electric vehicles in 2025, accounting for about 70% of global output.

Raízen SA’s bank creditors presented the Brazilian bioenergy company with a new restructuring proposal, Bloomberg News reported. As part of the plan, creditors are proposing that 30% of the proceeds from the sale of Argentine assets be used to pay down debt, said the people, who asked not to be identified citing private negotiations. Creditors are also requesting that Rubens Ometto, the founder of parent Cosan SA, be replaced as Raízen’s chairman, echoing a previous proposal by bondholders.

China on Monday left benchmark loan prime rates (LPRs) unchanged for the 11th consecutive month in ​April, in line with market expectations. Solid economic growth ‌at the start of the year and a pick-up in inflation reduced the need for fresh monetary easing to support the broader economy. China kept the one-year LPR at 3.00% and five-year ​LPR at 3.50%.

A gold-hued skyscraper is rising above the traffic-clogged streets of the capital city on the Mekong River, the Wall Street Journal reported. The building is already Cambodia’s tallest structure—and a monument to the spoils generated by transnational cybergangs that have stolen billions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans and others worldwide. The skyscraper is being built by a company under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department for its alleged connection to one of hundreds of scam operations that have cropped up across Cambodia.

Thailand’s government may lift a voluntary ceiling on public debt to open room for additional borrowing of about $30 billion to fund measures to shore up an economy hit by global energy shocks, Bloomberg News reported. Officials from the finance ministry and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s office are discussing raising the ceiling to 75% of gross domestic product from the current 70%, said the people, who requested anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

Australia's largest business lender, National Australia Bank, on Monday said it expects to incur credit impairment charges of ‌A$706 million ($503 million) in the first half, as the Iran war roils the ‌global economy and financial markets, Reuters reported. The bank said it was now predicting more bad debts to occur as the ​likelihood of an Australian "downside economic scenario" was rising due to the Middle East conflict. NAB shares were down as much as 3.8% on Monday as the S&P/ASX200 was off 0.24% in early trading. The ASX200 financials index was 0.67% lower, dragged down by NAB.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday ‌that artificial intelligence for industrial use ‌will require more regulatory freedom in the European ​Union than other AI areas such as consumer use to boost productivity, Reuters reported. "I will push to ease the regulatory burden in ‌the EU on ⁠AI and, where possible, to exempt industrial AI from the ⁠current regulatory straightjacket that is too tight for AI within the European Union," Merz ​said in ​a speech ​at the annual industrial ‌fair Hannover Messe.

Global finance leaders, whipsawed by Middle East war ​news, came to grips this past week with their inability to mitigate the economic damage from increasingly frequent geopolitical shocks, and a realization that counting on U.S. leadership to resolve crises is no longer ‌the guarantee it had long been, Reuters reported.

Companies in Australia and New Zealand are beginning to signal the financial strain from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, as higher fuel prices stoke inflation, dent business and consumer confidence, and weigh on corporate earnings, Reuters reported. Australia's largest business lender, National Australia Bank, warned on Monday of a first-half credit impairment hit, while Qube Holdings and Worley flagged earnings impacts from the ​ongoing market volatility.

Canadian housing starts ​posted a surprise ‌decline in March, falling 6% ​from the ​previous month, data ⁠from the ​national housing agency ​showed on Friday, Reuters reported. The seasonally adjusted annualized ​rate of ​housing starts decreased to ‌235,852 ⁠units from a revised 250,961 units in ​February, ​the ⁠Canada Mortgage and Housing ​Corporation (CMHC) said. ​Economists ⁠had expected starts to rise ⁠to ​255,000. Read more.