Headlines

Germany’s central bank warned the country’s economy may have shrunk for its second consecutive three-month period, which would mean the eurozone’s biggest economy has entered its first recession in six years, the Financial Times reported.

A Turkish group’s acquisition of British Steel depends on lowering the cost of contracts the U.K.’s No. 2 steelmaker holds with its suppliers, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. Oyak Group, which manages military pensions, entered exclusive talks in August to buy British Steel, the first step in a rescue that could save about 5,000 jobs in the U.K.’s manufacturing heartland.

Thailand’s Pace Development Corp., owner of gourmet grocer Dean & DeLuca, said it’s in default on 2.6 billion baht ($88 million) of debt owed to one of the nation’s top banks, Bloomberg News reported. Siam Commercial Bank Pcl has asked the firm to repay outstanding amounts by Nov. 4, Pace Development said in a stock exchange filing on Monday. The company said it will accelerate discussions with the lender to prepare financial restructuring and debt management plans so it can continue developing projects.

Investors are prepared for the worst as the day of reckoning looms for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the state-owned power utility seen by Goldman Sachs Group Inc as the biggest threat to the country’s economy, Bloomberg News reported. Yields on benchmark South African government notes are at their highest in three weeks, trumped only by junk-rated Nigeria, Turkey and Lebanon among 29 major emerging markets. Rand-denominated sovereign debt has lost 3% for dollar investors this half, the worst performance after Colombia and Argentina.

The global collapse in coal prices this year has dealt a particularly heavy blow to miners in Indonesia, the top exporter and one of the largest producers of the fuel. Bonds from the country’s financially weak miners have suffered more than peers elsewhere in Asia due to a lack of diversification and state backing that many competitors enjoy, Bloomberg News reported. Prices of thermal coal -- the kind burned by power plants -- have slumped about 33% this year, and at least four U.S. firms have gone bankrupt.

It is well known that Lebanon is a highly indebted country. Its debt-to-GDP ratio has been stuck above 150 per cent for two decades while its economy has somehow managed to keep growing, albeit at lacklustre rates, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Prophets of doom have been predicting a sovereign default for years, only to be proved wrong by the resilience of Lebanon’s financial sector and the savvy of its central bank.

Deutsche Bank AG is considering substantial cuts to the unit that trades interest-rate securities, a division that survived a large-scale pullback as part of the lender’s sweeping revamp in July, Bloomberg News reported. Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing has concluded that it’s possible to reduce enough of the associated technology costs to outweigh the loss in revenue, according to people briefed on the matter.

Argentina’s bondholders are braced for steep losses when the government attempts to tackle its $101bn debt burden after downbeat meetings with IMF officials and associates of Alberto Fernández, the presidential frontrunner, in Washington last week, the Financial Times reported. More than 20 bondholders met a team of IMF officials to discuss the outlook for Argentina ahead of the country’s general election this Sunday.

More than two years back, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) named Essar Steel as one of 12 companies whose non-performing assets (NPA) were clogging up the banking system, The Print reported. In its 13 June 2017 order, the central bank had also asked the lenders to initiate proceedings against these companies under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Accordingly, the NCLT bench in Ahmedabad started hearing insolvency proceedings against Essar Steel the same month.

At least two died and dozens were injured from looting and riots this weekend in Santiago and other major Chilean cities as protests against income equality intensified and spread across the country, Bloomberg News reported. The government has declared a state of emergency in the capital and four other regions in central Chile, giving it broader powers to enact security measures like curfews, for the first time since Augusto Pinochet was dictator. President Sebastian Pinera announced Saturday night that he would suspend the hike in subway fares that initially sparked the protests.