Headlines

Engine Lease Finance BV, an aircraft engine lessor of SpiceJet, has moved an insolvency plea before the NCLT against the debt-ridden air carrier over non-payment of over USD 12 million (around Rs 100 crore), the Economic Times of India reported. Engine Lease Finance (ELF) has leased eight engines to SpiceJet. Along with interest and rental, ELF has claimed an amount of around USD 16 million. The matter was listed before a Delhi-based bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday, which heard it briefly.

Insolvency Appellate Tribunal NCLAT has upheld orders approving Adani Goodhomes' resolution plan for realty firm Radius Estate with a 93 percent haircut for creditors, the Economic Times of India reported. A two-member bench comprising the NCLAT Chairman rejected the petitions by two dissenting financial creditors, saying it was "commercial wisdom" of the Committee of Creditors (CoC), which approved the payout to different creditors.

Property firm China Evergrande Group said on Tuesday its liquidators have made only "modest realisations" of the company's assets and were now seeking investors for restructuring, Reuters reported. The embattled developer's "liquidity and other internal resources remain limited," a filing by the company showed.

China’s biggest cities including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou eased requirements for home downpayments and mortgages, following through on the central government’s aid for the embattled property sector, Bloomberg News reported. Shanghai and Shenzhen reduced downpayment requirements by 10 percentage points to a minimum of 20% for first-time buyers and 30% for second-home purchasers, according to two separate statements on Monday and Tuesday. The floor for mortgage rates was also lowered.

China's economy is set to grow 5% this year, after a "strong" first quarter, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, upgrading its earlier forecast of 4.6% expansion though it expects slower growth in the years ahead, Reuters reported. The global lender's new projections come as Beijing steps up efforts to shore up an uneven recovery in the world's second-biggest economy, which has stumbled in the face of a protracted property crisis and its ripple effects across investors, consumers and businesses.

An Ontario judge issued an order on Tuesday that recognizes and enforces Red Lobster’s U.S. bankruptcy protection proceedings in Canada, the Canadian Press reported. The order from Judge Michael Penny was requested by lawyers for the beleaguered seafood restaurant chain's Canadian business, who told a virtual court their client is working to steady its operations. "Everything we are trying to do today is to stabilize the business," said Linc Rogers, a lawyer representing Red Lobster Canada, Inc.

The Bank of Japan will need to proceed carefully with any further policy changes, policy board member Seiji Adachi said, stressing that the central bank’s decision to end easing measures wasn’t a shift toward monetary tightening, the Wall Street Journal reported. “We need to absolutely avoid premature rate increases, which could throw cold water on a chance for the Japanese economy to recover,” Adachi said in a speech on Wednesday.

German inflation rose slightly more than forecast to 2.8% in May, although economists said an increase had been expected and should not alarm European Central Bank policymakers ahead of their interest rate decision next week, Reuters reported. Economists are paying close attention to the data from Germany - Europe's biggest economy - ahead of the release of inflation figures from the wider euro zone on Friday. The ECB looks set to lower interest rates next week after its biggest ever streak of hikes brought down inflation to just above its 2% target but also choked off credit.

While expectations for lower borrowing costs are building, it will take as long as three quarters for interest-rate cuts “to really bear fruit” for bank customers, according to a Bank of Nova Scotia executive, Bloomberg News reported. “There’s some talk about rate decreases in June and July,” Scotiabank Chief Risk Officer Phil Thomas said Tuesday on the lender’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call, referring to moves by the Bank of Canada.

Consumer prices in Brazil rose less than expected in the month to mid-May, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Tuesday, as the impact on food inflation from recent floods turned out to be lighter than initially feared, Reuters reported. The latest inflation reading, economists say, might ease pressure on the central bank to halt its ongoing monetary easing cycle. Prices as measured by the IPCA-15 index were up 0.44% in the period, IBGE said, picking up from 0.21% in April but below the 0.48% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.