Headlines

An Italian court on Monday cleared the way for energy companies to cut off gas supplies to steel company Acciaierie d'Italia (ADI), majority owned by multinational steel giant ArcelorMittal, over mounting debts, Reuters reported. Weighed down by an increase in energy prices and a drop in rolled steel coil prices, ADI has run out of cash and has accumulated a huge debt pile with suppliers. These include energy giant Eni, owed 104 million euros by the steelmaker as of end-June 2023.

Beleaguered bondholders of Signa Development Selection AG are looking to prevent a law enacted 150 years ago by the authorities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from limiting their ability to pursue claims against the insolvent firm, Bloomberg News reported. Lawyers for the property unit of the Signa group recommended that a court-appointed kurator represent collectively the holders of the €300 million ($329 million) defaulted notes during the self-administration process, according to insolvency filings seen by Bloomberg News.

Shares in Brazilian airline Gol tumbled on Monday after local newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that the company was considering filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States within the next month, Reuters reported. Gol's shares slipped as much as 13% on the report before paring some losses to trade down 8.8%. The carrier was the biggest loser on Brazil's benchmark stock index Bovespa, which was trading near flat.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted men's grooming and personal care firm Supermax Personal Care under the insolvency resolution process and appointed Kshitiz Gupta as the interim resolution professional of the company, the Economic Times of India reported. Mumbai-based Supermax Personal Care is a part of Super-Max Group. It is largely into products such as razors, blades and shaving creams, which it supplies to the market in India and other affiliates of Supermax Group abroad.

New bank lending in China rose less than expected in December, but 2023 lending hit a new record as the central bank kept policy accommodative to support an unexpectedly shaky economic recovery, Reuters reported. Chinese banks extended 1.17 trillion yuan ($163.31 billion) in new yuan loans in December, up from November but falling short of analysts' expectations, according to data released by the People's Bank of China on Friday.

India’s inflation accelerated to a four-month high as food prices climbed, justifying the central bank’s caution in keeping interest rates higher for longer, Bloomberg News reported. The consumer price index rose 5.69% in December from a year earlier, statistics ministry data showed Friday. That’s lower with the 5.88% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists and compares with a 5.55% reading in November.

Jindal Power has proposed to top a bid by Adani Power (ADAN.NS), led by billionaire Gautam Adani, for a thermal power plant, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as India looks to drum up investment in coal-fired power, Reuters reported. The tussle for the 1,980-megawatt plant in central India, ensnared in insolvency proceedings, comes after the power minister called last November for more private investment to meet a dramatic rise in electricity demand.

Ghana's official creditors have agreed to restructure debts that were extended to the country up until December 2022, two sources told Reuters, with Accra closing in on a key step required to advance its restructuring, Reuters reported. A deal between Ghana and its official creditors would pave the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the disbursement of $600 million under its $3 billion bailout programme.

Pakistan won final approval for the disbursement of about $700 million in aid from the International Monetary Fund, vital support for the embattled South Asian economy ahead of elections next month, Bloomberg News reported. The IMF’s executive board approved the loan, the Washington-based lender said in a statement on Thursday. The nation’s dollar bonds rallied, posting the top five gains in emerging markets on Friday. The 2026 notes gained 1.5 cents to 71.6 cents on the dollar, extending Thursday’s 3.1 cent rally.

Argentina's annual inflation rate ended 2023 at 211.4%, the highest since the early 1990s, official data showed on Thursday, propeling the embattled South American country's year rise in prices above Venezuela for the first time in decades, Reuters reported. Argentina's monthly inflation also hit 25.5% in December, below forecasts, after a sharp devaluation of the local peso by the new government of libertarian President Javier Milei, who came into office last month pledging to fix the economic crisis. The inflation data, the first involving a period since Milei took office on Dec.