Headlines

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers early on Thursday that Athens must conclude the first review of its new international bailout within November, to start talks over a debt relief before the end of the year, Reuters reported. "Our main target is to conclude the review within November and the bank recapitalisation by the end of the year, in order to, at last, start the discussion over a debt relief," Tsipras said ahead of a confidence vote.

Alexis Tsipras has pledged to steer Greece back to economic growth in the second half of next year but said he would try to negotiate softer terms with the country’s creditors on energy liberalisation and social policies, the Financial Times reported. The Greek premier won an unexpectedly solid victory in a snap election held last month.

Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam says it is “madness” for African nations to rely on loans in foreign currencies to fund vital infrastructure including roads, power and clean water, The Wall Street Journal reported. Lenders in African nations must instead find domestic savings to invest in local projects, said the Ivory Coast-born banker who took charge of Zurich-based Credit Suisse in June. Mr.

Construction group Zech is seen as the front runner to buy the German unit of bankrupt Dutch engineering services company Imtech, two people familiar with the deal said. A decision on Zech's offer, which was discussed among creditors on Monday, is expected by the end of the week, they said, adding that other bidders remain in the race. Zech and administrator Peter Borchardt declined to comment. Imtech Germany filed for insolvency on Aug.

Lending by Ireland’s 354 credit unions slumped to a 15-year low of €3.5 billion in the 12 months to June 2015, due to a combination of reduced demand and lending restrictions imposed by the Central Bank, the Irish Times reported. However, with some €5.5 billion in available funds ready to lend to members, the movement is hopeful that an upturn is on the way. According to the Irish League of Credit Unions’ annual review, loans fell by €166 million, or 4 per cent in the year to June 2015, down to €3.5 billion. The last time credit union loans were at such a level was in 2000.

Overseas loans by banks in Hong Kong fell significantly for the first time in more than four years in August, the month China surprised the world by devaluing its currency and effectively making loans at home much cheaper, The Wall Street Journal reported. Chinese borrowing accounts for a large portion of overseas lending by banks in the city, including foreign lenders. Overseas loans soared in the years when the yuan was rising and interest rates on the mainland were higher than those in Hong Kong. But in August such loans fell sharply. Because of its peg to the U.S.

US company Cerberus has appointed receivers to Ballybay Estates, one of the companies whose debts it bought through the National Asset Management Agency’s Project Eagle sale, to recover a €7 million loan, the Irish Times reported. New York-based Cerberus Capital Management’s €1.6 billion purchase of the Project Eagle loans is caught in a row over claims that a number of Belfast political and business figures were to receive payment as a result of the deal. The company itself denies any wrongdoing.

Britain's steel sector crisis intensified on Friday as its second-largest steelmaker, SSI UK, went into liquidation after mothballing its Redcar plant in northeast England earlier this week and axing 1,700 jobs, Reuters reported. The decision to liquidate the Thai-owned company, confirmed by unions and sources close to the matter, puts another 300 jobs at risk as the company employs 2,000 people directly. SSI UK has been hit by cheap imports, especially from the world's top steel producer China, and a slump in steel prices, which it expected would continue in the short term.

Concern over external debt in corporate Indonesia is mounting as companies seek to roll over more than $42bn of foreign currency loans within the next 12 months, following a period of steep rupiah depreciation, the Financial Times reported. External debt is a red flag to investors. It added fuel to the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, as ravaged currencies magnified foreign currency borrowings across swathes of the region. Some Asian currencies, including the Indonesian rupiah, are flirting with the levels hit at that time.

Ukraine must resolve outstanding budget issues before the International Monetary Fund gives the green light on the next payout of bailout cash, the IMF said Saturday as it further cut its economic outlook for the conflict-beleaguered nation, The Wall Street Journal reported. IMF mission chief Nikolay Gueorguiev said Kiev’s pro-West government had reached agreement with the IMF on most of the budget and policy overhauls needed to complete the latest review of the emergency loan program.