Headlines

Indonesia’s finance minister expects the budget deficit to stay elevated next year as the nation’s worst coronavirus surge hampers the recovery and efforts to boost state revenue, Bloomberg News reported. The fiscal shortfall could reach 4.7%-4.8% of gross domestic product in 2022, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. That’s near the top end of the government’s 4.5%-4.85% projection. “We’ll try very hard to return to fiscal discipline in 2023. But at the same time, we’ll also be very pragmatic,” Indrawati said.

The European Central Bank said Thursday that it would adjust the guideposts it uses to set monetary policy, giving it more room to deploy crisis measures even if inflation rises above its official target, the New York Times reported. The bank also said that it would begin using its clout in bond markets to fight climate change. After concluding an 18-month review of its strategy, the bank’s Governing Council said Thursday that it would no longer aim to keep inflation below, but close to, 2 percent, its guiding principle since 2003.

The United Kingdom is liable to pay 47.5 billion euros ($56.23 billion) to the European Union as part of its post-Brexit financial settlement, RTÉ News reported late on Thursday, according to Reuters. The figures are contained in the EU's consolidated budget report for 2020, according to RTÉ News, with the report adding that the money is owed under a series of articles which both sides agreed to as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The total amount, if confirmed, is significantly higher than expected.

Sri Lanka’s central bank said it will dip into its foreign exchange reserves to partly repay $1 billion of bonds maturing later this month, seeking to allay investors’ concern about a possible default, Bloomberg News reported. There may be some inflows to the government coming in July, which could also be used toward the debt obligation, Governor Weligamage Don Lakshman said at a press conference in Colombo on Thursday. The nation’s reserves stood at about $4 billion, according to a central bank statement last month.

Brazilian telecom Oi SA said on Wednesday it had received the go-ahead from a court to sell a majority stake in its fiber optic business to funds managed by Banco BTG Pactual, Reuters reported. Oi, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016 and has since been selling assets to pay creditors, said the court had determined there were no other bids on the table. Oi in April accepted a 12.9 billion reais ($2.5 billion) offer for a 57.9% stake in its fiber optic business from BTG’s funds.

Packing sweaty, heavy-breathing strangers into enclosed spaces may seem like a disastrous business model for the post-pandemic era. But you wouldn’t know it from the love investors are showing shares and bonds of gyms in the U.K., Bloomberg News reported. Gym Group Plc’s stock has jumped about 28% this year, recouping almost all its losses from Covid-19 closures. In the bond market, investors have piled into high-yield debt offerings from the budget chain Pure Gym PLC and the more upmarket David Lloyd.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has allowed withdrawal of insolvency against OYO Hotels and Homes Private Limited (OHHPL), which is a subsidiary of OYO, Swarajya reported. The order effectively concludes the insolvency proceedings against the company. The tribunal's order disallowed the intervention of external parties, including FHRAI. In a statement, OYO said that it will continue to work closely with its hotel partners for the closure of any pending claims.

Indian tycoon Gautam Adani is seeking a loan of about 75 billion rupees ($1 billion) to refinance existing debt of Mumbai’s international airport, Bloomberg News reported. Barclays Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among banks in discussions to provide the funds to Adani Airport Holdings Ltd., the people said. Deutsche Bank AG is also in talks to help with the financing. Mumbai International Airport Ltd. has a debt of about 80 billion rupees.

The European Commission said Wednesday that successful vaccination drives and government stimulus will allow the eurozone economy to make up the ground lost because of the pandemic by the end of the year, instead of early next year as previously forecast, the New York Times reported. The commission, the European Union’s administrative arm, said in its official summer forecast that the 19 countries in the eurozone will grow 4.8 percent in 2021, half a percentage point more than previously forecast.

History suggests Britain's house price surge could threaten hopes of post-Brexit export-powered growth, if finance minister Rishi Sunak uses the housing market to fuel the economy like his predecessors did, Reuters reported. Stoked by his tax break on property purchases and a pandemic-driven rush for larger houses as more people work from home, house prices are rising at the fastest annual rate - at 13.4% in June - since 2004, lender Nationwide says. The housing market holds totemic importance in Britain as a driver of wealth.