Headlines

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced 435 million pounds ($530 million) of relief for small retailers and pubs struggling to cope with higher property taxes, though he faced immediate criticism that he’s not doing enough. Measures include a 300 million-pound fund that will enable local authorities to give discretionary relief to the hardest-hit, Bloomberg News reported.

Global investors are returning to China’s swelling market for bad debt after several years of watching from the sidelines, the Financial Times reported. Private equity funds Lone Star and PAG over the past few months have started buying non-performing loan (NPL) portfolios in the country, according to several people familiar with the matter. The entrance of the groups marks the first time in years that foreign funds have braved China’s bad debt market without powerful local partners.

Global investors are returning to China’s swelling market for bad debt after several years of watching from the sidelines, the Financial Times reported. Private equity funds Lone Star and PAG over the past few months have started buying non-performing loan (NPL) portfolios in the country, according to several people familiar with the matter. The entrance of the groups marks the first time in years that foreign funds have braved China’s bad debt market without powerful local partners.

Improving growth and the rarity of inflation running ahead of the European Central Bank’s target provide the awkward backdrop to the meeting of policymakers in Frankfurt this week. After years spent worrying about the scourge of deflation, officials have just seen prices in the eurozone increase at a faster pace than their target of just below 2 per cent for the first time in four years, the Financial Times reported.

A strong upswing in business and consumer confidence and buoyant financial markets are not enough to pull the world out of a “low-growth trap”, the OECD said on Tuesday as it released its latest forecasts. The Paris-based club of mostly rich nations noted that it had not revised up its growth forecasts from those in November so there was now a troubling disconnect between buoyant financial market valuations and real economy prospects, the Financial Times reported.

Bankruptcies of Chinese businesses have surged in the past two years, in a sign the state is beginning to take painful steps to trim the bloated industrial sector as it tries to rein in debt, The Wall Street Journal reported. China’s search for ways to manage its slowest growth in a quarter-century hangs over the annual National People’s Congress, which starts on Sunday. The challenge is expected to drive discussions among delegates on how to unwind the heavily indebted companies that account for much of the industry and jobs in their home regions.

Europe’s economy is accelerating, sparking optimism during a year of contentious politics but also rekindling a war of words between the eurozone’s top monetary officials, The Wall Street Journal reported. In one camp is European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who wants to avoid dramatic moves with fraught elections looming in the Netherlands, France and Germany. In the other is German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, an ardent critic of the ECB’s easy-money policies, who is concerned the dosage of stimulus is too strong for a healing economy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reason to be wary of ambitious reforms to India’s economy, given the fraught rollout of his plan to ban 500- and 1,000-rupee notes overnight, a Bloomberg View reported. For his country to reach its true economic potential, however, he will need to do something about India’s ailing state banks. These institutions, which account for more than 70 percent of lending in India, are in no immediate danger of collapse. But they’ve become a huge drag on the economy.

Pharol SGPS SA, the controlling shareholder of Brazil's debt-laden telephone carrier Oi SA, said in a statement on Tuesday that Rafael Mora had resigned as Pharol's executive director and a member of Oi's board, Reuters reported. João do Passo Vicente Ribeiro, previously named as Mora's alternate on Oi's board, will take his board seat, according to a Pharol press representative. The statement did not give a reason for Mora's resignation. Read more.

Tata Steel UK on Tuesday said it would close its final salary pension scheme to accruals from March 31 as a step towards resolving the future of its British operations, Reuters reported. The fate of Tata's British businesses, including the nation's largest steelworks at Port Talbot, has been in the air since Tata Steel said a year ago it planned to divest its British assets following heavy losses.