Headlines

Economists this week have noted that European growth is getting back on track, but that “political risks” could derail that progress over the course of this year, The Wall Street Journal reported in a commentary. Think about that for a minute. The political risk is that voters could turn to fringe euroskeptic parties in the Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany. Voters don’t often oust their politicians when things are going well in an economy. So either the European Union’s economic performance is overstated, or the political threats it faces are.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi heaped praise on Germany on Thursday for demonstrating how countries can succeed within the currency union, and urged other eurozone governments to follow Berlin’s example, The Wall Street Journal reported. “When countries do pursue the right policies, the euro is no hindrance to success,” Mr. Draghi said Thursday at an event in Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana, to mark the 10th anniversary of that country’s adoption of the euro.

A court in the Netherlands on Thursday decided that two subsidiaries of debt-laden Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA would not start bankruptcy proceedings, the company said in a securities filing. The filing confirmed a Reuters report that Oi Brasil Holdings Coöperatief UA and Portugal Telecom International Finance BV, would remain operating under "suspension of payments" legal status.

A South Korean court said on Thursday it decided to end Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd's court receivership process and expects to declare bankruptcy on February 17 after a two-week period for appeals, Reuters reported. The Seoul Central District Court said in a statement that it made the decision as the firm's liquidation value would be worth more than its value as a going concern. Hanjin Shipping, which had been the world's seventh-largest container shipper, applied for court receivership in late August after its creditor banks halted further support.

Indian banks could unlock as much as 650 billion rupees ($9.6 billion) worth of security receipts they hold, as the South Asian nation proposes to allow listing of the instruments the lenders received for selling delinquent debt, Bloomberg News reported.

The recent bump in oil prices isn’t enough to help Petroleos de Venezuela SA as it faces its fourth consecutive year of declining production, Bloomberg News reported. The company’s crude output is expected to fall this year as it failed to raise cash for investments and after Venezuela agreed to cut 95,000 barrels a day for six months as part of a deal struck by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other non-members to lift oil prices, analysts say.

Traders reduced their bets on a default of Venezuela’s dollar debt over the next year amid a thin repayment schedule in the first quarter, Bloomberg News reported. The implied probability of nonpayment over the next 12 months plunged to 44 percent in January from 59 percent at the end of December, according to credit-default swaps data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the first time the risk of default has been below 50 percent since September. The longer-term outlook is still a little murky, with the odds of a credit event over the next five years at 89 percent.

Investors are dumping Greek bonds, fearing that Athens will be unable to pay debt that comes due this summer, The Wall Street Journal reported. The selloff comes as the Greek government is again at a standstill in negotiations with its creditors in the eurozone and at the International Monetary Fund. Athens needs to break the deadlock and secure more aid before about €6 billion ($6.5 billion) in debt has to be repaid in July.

The drop in French government bonds has accelerated this morning, pushing the premium investors demand to hold its bonds over Germany’s to the highest in three years, as the favourite for the country’s presidency is hit by a swirl of allegations over payments made to his family, the Financial Times reported.

The CEO of Cameco Corp. says the decision by a Japanese utility to terminate a uranium-supply contract worth about $1.3-billion in revenue from now through 2028 came “out of the blue.” Tim Gitzel said Tokyo Electric Power Co. sent a notice on Jan. 24 saying it wanted to terminate the long-term contract signed in 2009 and would not accept delivery of a shipment due Wednesday, Reuters reported. He said Tepco confirmed the notice on Tuesday despite Cameco’s interim attempts to discuss remedies for the situation. “We were very surprised to get that notice,” Mr.