Headlines

China’s central bank kept key policy rates steady and drained liquidity from the banking sector as economic data shows fresh signs of weakness, the Wall Street Journal reported. The People’s Bank of China on Monday held the interest rate on its one-year medium-term lending facility at 2.5% while injecting 100 billion yuan ($13.82 billion) funds via the instrument, according to a statement on its website. With CNY170 billion worth of MLF loans due on Wednesday, the PBOC has drained a net CNY70 billion liquidity from the financial system.

State-backed property developer China Vanke said it is facing short-term liquidity pressure and operational difficulties, but added that it has prepared "a basket of plans" to stabilise its business and cut debt, Reuters reported. Vanke's Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 0.8% on Monday after hitting a record intraday low, while its Shenzhen-listed shares edged up 0.6%, stabilising after nine consecutive sessions of decline.

Ghana has made “significant progress” in debt-restructuring negotiations and the latest snag that sent its eurobonds tumbling on Monday will be ironed out in further talks with bondholders, Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam said, Bloomberg News reported. Negotiations that started mid-March resulted in an interim deal last week with international investors holding about 40% of Ghana’s $13 billion of defaulted eurobonds.

Emerging countries will pay a record $400 billion to service external debt this year, and 47 of them cannot spend the money they need for climate adaptation and sustainable development without risking default in the next five years, according to a report released on the eve of IMF/World Bank spring meetings, Reuters reported.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Simkus said borrowing costs will start to decline from June — predicting at least three such moves in 2024, Bloomberg News reported. “I see a higher than 50% chance there will be more than three cuts this year,” Simkus told reporters Monday in Vilnius. “I see a higher than zero chance that an interest-rate cut may follow also in July.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has disposed of two separate insolvency resolution applications filed by State Bank of India and IDBI Bank against Mumbai Metro One. The borrower is a joint venture between Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) and Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the Economic Times reported.

Mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd has secured an 11-year term loan of Rs 3,918 crore from Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), sources said. The financial closure will enable Vedanta to expedite completion of its power projects, the Economic Times of India reported. The group plans to increase the operating capacity of its power business in India to 4.8 GW by FY27. The latest financing follows Vedanta group's takeover of Meenakshi Energy Ltd on December 28 in an NCLT-driven insolvency process.

Finland’s government is seeking an additional €3 billion ($3.2 billion) worth of austerity measures to help fix its deteriorating public finances, according to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Bloomberg News reported. Orpo’s pro-business cabinet is convening to its first talks over a four-year budget framework. They’re searching for additional savings and tax increases on top of a €6 billion package outlined in the government’s policy program last year. The Nordic country has run consecutive budget deficits since 2008.

South Korea's finance minister stepped up warnings on Monday that the government is ready to act to counter any renewed volatility in currency markets after the won has extended declines against the dollar to hit the lowest in a year and a half, Reuters reported. "We will swiftly act according to contingency plans and will play any necessary role to respond to any excessive volatility in forex and other financial markets," Choi Sang-mok said at a policy meeting urgently scheduled to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The Bank of England said on Friday that it would overhaul the way it forecast its outlook for the British economy as part of a “once-in-a-generation” review of its process after it was criticized for underestimating inflation, the New York Times reported. After a few turbulent years — which included a pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a surge in inflation — the central bank was accused of bungling its economic forecasts.