Headlines

Some members of Greece’s leftist-led government wanted to raid central bank reserves and hack taxpayer accounts to prepare a return to the drachma, according to reports that highlighted the chaos in the ruling Syriza party, The Guardian reported. It is not clear how seriously the government considered the plans, attributed to former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis and ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. Both ministers were sacked this month. However, the revelations have been seized on by opposition parties who are demanding an explanation.

Negotiators from Greece’s bailout monitors will fly to Athens on Monday to formally begin talks on a €86bn rescue after days of delays over whether the Greek government would allow creditors to have full access to staff and facilities, the Financial Times reported. Despite an agreement that gives teams from the EU and the International Monetary Fund access to some ministries and data, officials said only middle-ranking technical teams — and not mission chiefs — would participate for now.

For Hong Kong, it's been one thing after another. A series of anti-China and pro-democracy protests last year prompted stores to close and mainland tour groups to cancel bookings. Meanwhile, a slowing Chinese economy and President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption and austerity campaigns have also made the Chinese more wary of buying pricey cognac and Gucci bags in the city. While still the biggest outbound destination for Chinese tour groups, Hong Kong is in danger of losing its lead.

A replacement lender for U.S. Steel Canada that will in effect double the cost of keeping two Canadian steel plants afloat was approved by a Toronto court Friday, CBC.ca reported. The application from USSC to replace its parent company, U.S. Steel (USS) with the new lenders, Brookfield Capital Partners, could cost the company $9.25 million, plus administration costs.

The number of people going bankrupt has ticked up for the first time since 2009 when fallout from the global financial crisis reached its peak, The New Zealand Herald reported. Figures from the Insolvency and Trustee Services show 1979 people went bankrupt in the year to June 30, up from 1921 the previous year. The increase is small but it is a change in direction from the past five years where numbers have steadily fallen from the 3054 people who went bankrupt in the year to June 30, 2010.

To many Greeks, the debt the country has amassed is the evil fruit of austerity policies, imposed from the outside, that asphyxiated its economy and trampled on its sovereignty. To the International Monetary Fund, the debt of more than 310 billion euros, or almost $339 billion, is more of a mathematical problem. After years in which it was a stern advocate of tough austerity policies, it now says that there is no way that Greece can reasonably pay its debts and that a substantial amount of it needs to be forgiven.

A months-long, multibillion-dollar test of will between Ukraine and its creditors is due to come to a head as Kiev faces a decision to pay up — or default on its $70bn debt pile, the Financial Times reported. The trigger is a $120m interest payment due on Friday by a cash-strapped Ukrainian government that has been trying — so far in vain — to convince creditors to restructure their holdings. The talks have been a key priority for a fledgling government seeking to stabilise an economy that has been rocked by a war against Russian-backed separatists in the east.

The developer of the $3.5 billion Baha Mar mega-resort is willing to commit up to $200 million to jumpstart the stalled Bahamas project, lawyers told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday. Baha Mar, which will feature a Las Vegas-style casino and more than 2,000 hotel rooms, is nearly complete, but construction stopped several months ago because of a dispute between the developer and the main contractor, Chinese State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd's China Construction America.

A general election has been called in Portugal for October 4, the first of several national ballots in crisis-hit eurozone countries where images of Greeks queueing at ATMs are likely to influence the outcome, the Financial Times reported. The Portuguese election, announced by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva on Wednesday night, will be followed within months by ballots in Spain and Ireland, where the crisis in Greece could also sway voter decisions.

The spectacle of the stock market meltdown in China has led many analysts and investors to see an upside to the downturn, Bloomberg News reported. The slump is “the most serious crisis” facing President Xi Jinping “since he came to power,” China commentator Willy Lam told an audience of academics in Vancouver on July 10. “It will require a lot to restore people’s confidence in the regime.” Volatility might force the state to clean up the unregulated loans fueling stock purchases and to intervene less in equity markets and the broader economy.