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Mexico's economy expanded by 6.8% in August compared to the same month last year, as the country continued a recovery from a slump induced by the coronavirus pandemic, a preliminary estimate from national statistics agency INEGI showed on Friday, Reuters reported. A breakdown of the agency's initial figures showed that secondary activities, which include manufacturing, increased by 4.1% from August 2020, while tertiary activities, which encompass the service sector, were up by 8.3%. In July, Latin America's no. 2 economy grew by some 9.9% year-on-year, according to a preliminary estimate.
The World Economic Forum will return to the Swiss ski resort of Davos in 2022, after the pandemic forced organizers to shift to Singapore and then cancel their meeting altogether this year, Bloomberg News reported. The in-person event is scheduled for Jan. 17-21 and designed “to address economic, environmental, political and social fault lines exacerbated by the pandemic,” the group said on Thursday. It is working with the Swiss government and health experts to establish the appropriate safety measures.
The ancient capital of Kyoto has long been a tourist mecca, attracting domestic and international travelers to its World Heritage-designated temples, shrines and rock gardens, The Japan Times reported. For centuries, Kyoto, home of the emperor, was a forbidden city, inaccessible to the outside world. Foreign travelers passing through Japan in the 17th through the 19th centuries were not allowed to step foot in it.
The Council of Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) on Sept. 17 withdrew the operating license of City Insurance, the country’s biggest insurer that owes its position to the massive portfolio of mandatory car insurances, bne Intellinews reported. The ASF will now initiate bankruptcy procedures against City. The Romanian insurer, set up and controlled until June by Romanian businessman Dan Odobescu, the brother-in-law of former prime minister Adrian Nastase, failed to observe the recovery strategies required by the ASF in June.
In yet another setback for Vedanta's plans to acquire debt-ridden Videocon Industries, lenders which had agreed to Twin Star Technologies' (TST) resolution plan want to reconsider it, citing up to 95% haircuts, Times Now News reported. National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has sought a reply from Vedanta's subsidiary TST on a request by a Bank of Maharashtra-led Committee of Creditors (CoC), which wants a fresh round of bidding for the resolution plan. NCLAT will consider CoC's request alleging low payout on Sept. 27 as TST sought time to reply.
On Aug. 3, the Council of Ministers finally approved the long-awaited bill for the adaptation of our insolvency legislation to EU Directive 2019/1023 regarding preventive restructuring frameworks, discharge of debt and disqualifications, according to commentary published by The Corner. In addition, measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt. Great hopes had been placed on it because it was thought that it would help to save companies that, although going through a difficult patch, were viable.
BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc. are among global banks that are finally set to see some of their loans be at least partially repaid after getting caught up in one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest corporate defaults, Bloomberg News reported.In the first major test for the kingdom’s new bankruptcy law, Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co., which has been locked in legal battles and negotiations with creditors over $7.5 billion of debt since 2009, had its proposal to restructure the obligations ratified by a Saudi court, Simon Charlton, Algosaibi’s chief restructuring officer said.
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China Huarong Asset Management is putting 380 billion yuan ($58.8 billion) of bad assets up for sale after the scandal-plagued bad-debt manager reported a record loss last year, Nikkei Asia reported. Huarong secured a long-expected rescue plan last month led by state-owned giant Citic Group, China's second-largest financial holding company. Citic is wholly owned by the State Council, the country's cabinet. The sale of bad assets reflects Huarong's determination to speed up revitalization and restructuring of its idle assets and distressed subsidiaries.
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South African Airways will need a more modern fleet to be competitive on routes outside its home continent following the Covid-19 crisis, according to interim Chief Executive Officer Thomas Kgokolo, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned airline used to generate revenue on trips to cities such as London and Frankfurt, but its aging Airbus SE planes have prohibitive operating costs, he said in a panel discussion on Wednesday. “If we get the right fleet for those particular trips we should be able to minimize costs and become competitive,” Kgokolo said.
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Inflation in the United Kingdom rose to 3.2 percent in the past 12 months through August, a Wednesday report from the Office for National Statistics said, The Hill reported. This figure is up from 2 percent in July, marking the largest increase seen since the Consumer Prices Index began measuring inflation in 1997, the report said. The report added that "this is likely to be a temporary change" amid the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The current level is well above the 2 percent target "to keep inflation low and stable," according to the Bank of England.
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