Headlines

China’s new yuan loans dropped unexpectedly in July, sending yet another sign of weak demand in the economy despite Beijing’s efforts to bolster domestic demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. A measure of new yuan loans shrank by 50 billion yuan last month, according to official data released Wednesday by the People’s Bank of China, suggesting that borrowers rushed to repay funds. It marked the first such decline in about 20 years.

Thailand’s central bank resumed cutting rates to help an economy beset by domestic instability and tariff headwinds, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to cut its policy rate to 1.50% from 1.75%. The committee said monetary policy should be accommodative going forward to boost the economy. “At the same time, it is important to ensure macro-financial stability, while taking into account the limited policy space,” the BOT said.

Britain has appointed FTI Consulting to advise on contingency plans for Thames Water to be placed into a special administration regime were the country's largest water utility to collapse, a government source said. The heavily indebted and loss-making company is battling to avoid nationalisation by securing 5 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) of finance from its senior bondholders. Thames, which said in July it had enough funds to continue operating for 12 months, needs a reset of regulations for the deal to go ahead. The government said it would always act in the national interest.

The severely indebted real estate developer China Evergrande, already in the process of liquidation, said on Tuesday it will be delisted from Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Aug. 25, another setback to mainland China’s property sector, the Associated Press reported. Evergrande was the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer, with over $300 billion owed to banks and bondholders, when the court handed down a liquidation order in January 2024.

The Indian government on Tuesday introduced the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, with reforms that are intended to speed up the insolvency process. The reforms are related with group insolvency, credit-led resolution, and cross-border framework. The legislation proposes amendments in Section 7 of the current law, that deals with mandatory admission of insolvency if default confirmed and conditions met. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while introducing the bill, said it aims to reduce delays, boost value, and improve governance.

BluSmart, the electric cab firm, is grappling with a complex insolvency case that began on July 29, 2025, when the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted a petition from a creditor, ElectronicsForYou.biz reported. The case has uncovered major challenges in valuing the company’s assets, particularly its fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) and proprietary technology, which are locked within subsidiaries not automatically included in the insolvency process.

Bon Bon Entertainment, a Dutch promoter that has organised tours and shows for the likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid and J.Cole, has declared bankruptcy, IQ Magazine reported. “We can’t ignore the fact that the past two years have been difficult. Cancellations, financial setbacks, and an increasingly difficult market have deeply affected us,” the firm said in a statement. Last summer, Bon Bon was due to deliver Burna Boy’s first stadium show in the Netherlands at Johan Cruijff ArenA on 9 June, but it was pulled less than a month out.

The U.K.’s jobs market continued to cool in the second quarter as businesses grappled with an increase in employment taxes, uncertainty about the outlook for trade, and cautious consumers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to June, from 4.5% in January to March, while the number of workers on payrolls fell by 26,000 between May and June, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.

Australia's central bank cut interest rates on Tuesday for a third time this year and signaled further policy easing might be needed to meet its inflation and employment goals as the economy lost some momentum, Reuters reported. Wrapping up a two-day policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia board cut the main cash rate by a quarter point to 3.6%, saying that data suggested core inflation would moderate to around the middle of its 2% to 3% target band, assuming a gradual easing in policy.

Mike Chai aims to cut wage costs at his kitchen cabinet factory by about 30% to remain competitive against other Chinese firms, which have stopped selling to the U.S. due to steep tariffs and are now coming after his long-time customers in Australia, Reuters reported. Chai had already halved his workforce to 100 people since the pandemic and says he has no more room to trim. Instead, he is shortening shifts and asking workers to take unpaid leave - an increasingly common practice that has become a hidden deflationary force in the world's second-largest economy.