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Lenders to large stressed firms, with a default of at least ₹ 1,000 crore each, have taken smaller haircuts under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) than those with exposure to smaller firms, showed the data sourced from the bankruptcy regulator, the Economic Times of India reported. Creditors recovered 32.9% of their admitted claims from 138 large stressed firms until December 2023 since the IBC came into being in late 2016, as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India data.

Unigel has agreed a Brazilian reais (R) 3.9 billion ($791 million) debt restructuring with its creditors, which has saved the beleaguered styrenics, acrylics and fertilizer producer from filing for bankruptcy for the time being, ICIS.com reported. The agreement includes raising a new $100 million credit line that will mature in 2027, and give its shareholders “economic benefits corresponding” to 50% of the company, it said. An intention to improve the company’s governance structure is also included, although Unigel did not disclose further details.

The total financial debt of Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex totaled $106.8 billion at the end of last year, according to preliminary data released by the country's president on Wednesday, Reuters reported. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador revealed the debt data in a chart from a presentation on Pemex, one of the world's most indebted oil companies, at his regular government press conference. The presentation was dated Feb. 20. It was not immediately clear whether the figure he cited will be included in Pemex's quarterly financial results expected next week.

The European Union's economy is stronger as a result of the recovery fund, set up to drive post-pandemic growth, which has boosted jobs, investment and offset some of the impact of the Ukraine war, the European Commission said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Officially known as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the 723 billion euro ($780.84 billion) fund, launched in 2021 for a six-year period has so far disbursed 225 billion euros.

The German government said Europe's largest economy was in “troubled waters” and slashed its growth forecast for this year as it struggles with a lack of skilled labor, excessive bureaucracy, high interest rates and lagging investment in new projects — while a relatively modest set of tax breaks for business remains blocked in the legislature, the Associated Press reported. The growth forecast was lowered to 0.2% from the previous forecast from last fall of 1.3%. That would follow a shrinking of the economy by 0.3% for all of last year.

Chinese banks have approved property development loans of $17.20 billion as part of a special mechanism to inject liquidity into the sector, but detailed statements show some loans to distressed developers are only adjustments of existing credit, Reuters reported.

India’s market regulator has found a hole of more than $240 million in the accounts of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., dealing another blow to the embattled media firm less than a month after its merger with Sony Group Corp’s local unit collapsed, Bloomberg News reported. As part of its investigation into the Zee founders, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, found that about 20 billion rupees ($241 million) may have been diverted from the company. That’s roughly ten times of what was initially estimated by Sebi investigators.

Hong Kong's central bank issued guidance for authorized institutions interested in offering custody services for digital assets as the territory attempts to reclaim its title as a crypto hub, CoinDesk.com reported. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) guidance issued on Tuesday adds to the licensing regime introduced last year that gives crypto exchanges a pathway to operate in a regulated manner.

Canadian inflation decelerated more sharply than anticipated in January, offering comfort the central bank’s past rate increases continue to work through the economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices rose 2.9% in January from a year earlier, following December’s gain of 3.4%, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday. That marked the lowest level since June, and undershot the 3.3% advance economists were expecting.

The World Bank warned that high borrowing costs have "changed dramatically" the need for developing nations to boost sluggish economic growth, Reuters reported. The multilateral lender's latest warning comes as international bond sales from emerging market governments hit an all-time record of $47 billion in January, led by less risky emerging economies such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Romania. However, some riskier issuers have started to tap markets at higher rates.