Headlines

China’s banking system has surpassed that of the eurozone to become the world’s largest by assets, a sign both of the country’s increased influence in world finance and its reliance on debt to drive growth since the global financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. While China’s gross domestic product surpassed the EU’s economic bloc in 2011 at market exchange rates, its banking system did not take over the top spot until the end of 2016, Financial Times analysis shows.

The fate of Europe’s biggest steel plant will edge closer towards resolution when a deadline falls on Monday for final bids to take control of the troubled facility in southern Italy, the Financial Times reported. The giant Taranto works, which has been at the centre of a saga involving environmental disaster, insolvency and temporary nationalisation, forms the core of the Ilva business up for sale by the Italian government. At stake are not just thousands of jobs, but a region’s industrial heritage and a pillar of Italy’s manufacturing sector.

The deadline for bids on the troubled Italian steelmaker Ilva, the owner of Europe’s largest steelworks, has been pushed back until next week, the Financial Times reported. Final offers to acquire the company, which has been at the centre of a saga involving environmental disaster, insolvency and temporary nationalisation, had been due on Friday. But a spokesperson for Ilva confirmed to the Financial Times that the cut-off would be delayed to Monday.

Eurozone inflation has reached its highest level in four years, climbing above the rate targeted by the European Central Bank and triggering renewed calls from Germany for rate-setters in Frankfurt to rein in their loose monetary stance, the Financial Times reported. The single currency area’s annual rate of inflation reached 2 per cent in February, driven by rising energy costs. The ECB has a mandate to keep inflation close to, but under, that level.

A São Paulo court granted Brazilian homebuilder PDG Realty SA bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the company said in a securities filing. PDG sought protection from creditors last week to enable it to restructure its debt, Brazil's second publicly listed builder to do so in less than six months, Reuters reported. PDG's gross debt was 5.4 billion reais ($1.75 billion) at the end of September, according to a quarterly earnings report. Read more.

More than 100 people turned out in Clonmel on Thursday night to protest against the decision by Bus Éireann to close the town’s regular service to Dublin, the Irish Times reported. The “Save Our Bus” meeting was organised by the National Bus and Railworkers Union (NBRU) in response to Bus Éireann’s cost-cutting plans which the company says are necessary as part of efforts to stave off insolvency plans. The X7 route, Dublin-Clonmel, is one of three to be axed by Bus Éireann, with its eight daily services each way.

Credit Suisse Group AG’s push to expand in some areas of trading and across its wealth management businesses will make it harder to build up capital buffers at the same pace as last year, Chief Financial Officer David Mathers said. After selling billions in unwanted assets, the bank entered 2017 with a bigger capital ratio than analysts expected -- this in a year that ended up a loss following a $5.3 billion legal settlement, Bloomberg News reported.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen envisions the protective hand of the state guiding a reordered economy that punishes companies that fail to serve the interests of the nation and rewards those that put France first, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. In a speech on Wednesday, Le Pen laid out the nationalist policies based on "economic patriotism" that would be put enacted if she wins the two-round presidential election.

About 1,500 people have held a peaceful anti-austerity protest outside an Athens hotel where Greek officials are holding bailout talks with the country's creditors, the International New York Times reported. Wednesday's protest was organized by a labor union affiliated with the Communist Party, which strongly opposes the bailouts that have kept Greece afloat since 2010 and ushered in waves of deeply-resented spending and income cuts and tax hikes.

Mozambique will seek to negotiate a restructuring of part of its debt, its prime minister said on Wednesday. The southern African nation is struggling to repay loans of more than $2 billion that were not approved by parliament or disclosed publicly, Reuters reported. "We will negotiate with the creditors to restructure these debts," said Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario, adding that the nation wants to honour its debts "in a balanced way", the state news agency reported.