Headlines

Some energy companies are still failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes, says a survey released this week by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, CBC.com reported. Oil and gas producers missed $43 million in payments last year, the group says. "Year after year, the problem drags on due to a lack of industry regulation and accountability," said president Paul McLauchlin in a news release. The association found oil and gas companies owe the communities in which they operate nearly $252 million in all. That's down slightly from last year's total of $268 million.

The World Bank Group said on Wednesday that it would consolidate its loan and investment guarantee structure as part of its goal to triple its annual guarantees to $20 billion by 2030 to boost private renewable energy investments in developing countries, Reuters reported. The reforms, announced on the sidelines of a G20 finance leaders meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil, would move all of the guarantee experts from across the World Bank's business units into a single platform.

South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said there would be no interest-rate cuts until inflation is brought under control, remaining resolute despite calls for him to do so ahead of national elections, Bloomberg News reported. “Rates are where they are because inflation is what it is,” Kganyago said in an interview with Bloomberg in Sao Paulo on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting of finance chiefs and central bank governors. “The task of taming inflation is not yet done.

India’s Adani Group said cash balances have improved and it sees no refinancing risks in the near term as the conglomerate took more steps to shore up its finances following a withering short seller attack last year, Bloomberg News reported. The group’s Ebitda, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose more than 60% to 194.75 billion rupees ($2.3 billion) in the third quarter ended Dec. 31 with a bulk of that coming from the transport, infrastructure and energy units of the conglomerate. The group reported an Ebitda of $9.5 billion for the nine months to Dec. 31.

Chinese developer Country Garden said on Wednesday a liquidation petition has been filed against it for non-payment of a $205 million loan, clouding its debt revamp prospects and undermining Beijing's effort to restore confidence in the property sector, Reuters reported. Country Garden said in a regulatory filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it would "resolutely" oppose the petition, which was filed by a creditor, Ever Credit Limited, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Kingboard Holdings. A court hearing had been set for May 17.

Hong Kong has taken a bold step to ease a real-estate slump, scrapping a series of property taxes in an effort to turn around a market that is often seen as a proxy for the city’s beleaguered economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The government has removed longstanding property taxes that were imposed on nonpermanent residents, those buying a second home, or people reselling a property within two years after buying, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in his annual budget speech on Wednesday.

Councils have warned that neighbourhood services will have to be cut despite a Government bailout, with fears that more authorities will go bust over the coming years, PA Media reported. If further funding is not made available in the Budget on March 6, communities will face the consequences of a worsening financial crisis across local government, the Local Government Association (LGA) said. An LGA survey of council chief executives found 85% of local authorities continue to plan reductions in spending on key services after the Government made an extra £600 million available for 2024/25.

Alternative investment managers including Arini, Eicos and Squarepoint have tens of millions of euros at risk with their investments in a unit of the insolvent real estate conglomerate Signa, Bloomberg News reported. Arini, a hedge fund founded by former Credit Suisse trader Hamza Lemssouguer, holds about half of the €300 million ($326 million) of bonds issued by Signa Development, making it one of the biggest creditors of the company, according to a company filing circulated on Monday and seen by Bloomberg News.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday told Byju’s to respond to two separate insolvency petitions filed against the troubled edtech firm by US lenders and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Economic Times of India reported.

Debt-laden MEP Infrastructure Developers (MIDL) is seeking shareholder approval to bring in a new investor into the company, who will infuse ₹225 crore under the pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PPIRP) that will allow the company to recoup the delays in payments and standardise the account which is currently classified as a non-performing asset, the Economic Times of India reported. The PPIRP was introduced for micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs in 2021.