Headlines

IBBI Chairperson Ravi Mital on Tuesday asked insolvency professionals to be as transparent as possible during the resolution process as that will help in improving the bids and reduce haircuts, the Economic Times of India reported. Speaking at a conference organised by the Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI (IIIPI) in the national capital, he said that insolvency professionals and insolvency professional entities are the fulcrum of the insolvency system.

Thailand plans to raise government borrowing by about 8% in the fiscal year starting October to aid economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. About 1.1 trillion baht ($33 billion), or 41% of the total $78 billion, will be fresh borrowing to mainly finance the budget deficit, while the rest has been earmarked for refinancing and restructuring of existing debt. The Public Debt Management Office held a meeting with bond traders and fund managers on Monday in Bangkok.

Canadian manufacturing activity picked up more strongly than expected in July thanks to an improvement by most of the country’s refineries with a rise in prices and demand and a jump in pharmaceutical and medicine sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales volumes also improved, hinting at a recovery for a sector that has remained in the doldrums and offering a tailwind for the economy for the month. Factory shipments rose 1.4% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted 70.97 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about US$52.23 billion, Statistics Canada said Monday.

Argentina's economy likely shrank 1.4% in the second quarter versus a year earlier, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, the fifth such decline as a recession deepens under a tough austerity drive by libertarian President Javier Milei, Reuters reported. That median GDP estimate from 15 analysts polled by Reuters for the April-June period would follow a 5.1% year-over-year contraction in the first quarter. The official data is released on Wednesday. Milei's cost-cutting has hurt economic activity and pushed up poverty and unemployment.

The European Central Bank will ease monetary policy further, though it shouldn’t do so too hastily due to lingering inflation risks, according to Governing Council member Martins Kazaks, Bloomberg News reported. “We have at the ECB Governing Council already lowered rates two times this year, and this is not the final destination,” the Latvian central-bank head said Monday. “These rates will continue to go down.” Borrowing costs remain “pretty restrictive,” Kazaks told Latvian public TV.

A total of 134 countries representing 98% of the global economy are now exploring digital versions of their currencies, with almost half at an advanced stage and pioneers like China, the Bahamas and Nigeria starting to see a pick up in usage, Reuters reported. The research by the U.S.-based Atlantic Council think-tank published on Tuesday showed that all G20 nations are now looking into central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as they are known and that 44 countries in total are piloting them.

Zimbabwe’s creditors may be willing to consider a debt-for-climate swap with the nation as part of a restructure of its $21 billion in arrears, Bloomberg News reported. Interactions with the nation’s development partners indicate it is “an option that they are willing to consider,” Raul Fernandez, a United Nations Development Program project manager for climate development frameworks, said at a summit Monday hosted by the country’s Treasury in the resort city of Victoria Falls. “They need to see some action from the government, this commitment to structural reforms,” he said.

Harland & Wolff, the British holding company for the shipyard that built the Titanic and other 20th-century ocean liners, said on Monday that it was going into administration, similar to U.S. bankruptcy proceedings, after months of intense financial turmoil, the New York Times reported. The company said in a regulatory filing that it was insolvent and that the advisory firm Teneo would be appointed as the administrator. While Harland & Wolff will go into administration, the company’s four shipyards will continue operating, it said.

The number of bankruptcies in August decreased significantly compared to the previous month, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the NL Times reported. In August, 307 companies and institutions, including one-person businesses, were declared bankrupt, down 18 percent compared to July. Despite the month-to-month improvement, roughly 40 percent more bankruptcies were declared in the first eight months of 2024 when compared to the same period last year. A total of 378 companies were declared bankrupt in July, which was 71 more than in August.

The number of personal bankruptcies in Slovakia decreased by 20 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 688 in August, the third lowest figure seen this year, according to an analysis published by CRIF – Slovak Credit Bureau (CRIF SK), which manages the credit registries of banking and non-banking houses, TASR.SK reported. Of the total number of bankruptcies, 428 concerned men and 260 women, confirming the long-term trend that men go bankrupt more often than women. "Men accounted for over 62 percent of personal bankruptcies in August.