Headlines

South Korea’s central bank held interest rates steady but cut its inflation and growth forecasts for the year and signaled that it will pivot to easing in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at a 15-year high of 3.50% for a 13th consecutive time—the longest such run in the country. Twenty-four of the 27 analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal ahead of the decision had expected no rate change in August, but all forecast a rate cut in October or November. BOK Gov.

The first ever Green leader of Bristol has warned that the city council is at risk of going bankrupt unless urgent action is taken, BBC.com reported. Councillor Tony Dyer has revealed that the authority presently faces an overspend of £22m. A savings programme is being developed, with warnings that some charges will also rise. But there is already criticism from campaigners, with accusations that the Greens have rowed back on earlier pledges. Money was already tight, but extra costs have come to light, and planned savings have fallen short.

The U.K.’s economy kept up pace in August, helped by a robust labor market as both the services and manufacturing sectors expanded further, a boost for the newly elected Labour government that has put economic growth at the heart of its political agenda, the Wall Street Journal reported. The S&P Global Flash U.K. PMI Composite Output Index—a measure of private-sector activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors—rose to 53.4 from 52.8 in July, marking the fastest rise since April and above a forecast of 52.6 by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

Wages in the eurozone rose at a significantly slower pace during the three months through June, paving the way for further cuts in borrowing costs by the European Central Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB on Thursday said wages set through negotiations between employers and labor unions or similar bodies were 3.55% higher than a year earlier, a slowdown from the 4.74% increase recorded in the first three months of the year. That was a slower increase than economists expected to see.

Canada’s two biggest railways shut down early Thursday after talks with union leaders failed, immediately blocking arteries of North American supply chains that carry about C$1 billion ($740 million) per day in trade, Bloomberg News reported. More than 9,000 employees at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. were locked out after a deadline passed without an agreement on a new contract. Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference had voted to strike over a number of issues, including scheduling and worker fatigue.

Hundreds of Mexican federal judges went on strike Wednesday to protest a judicial-system overhaul that they say is an authoritarian power grab by departing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Wall Street Journal reported. Under the proposed overhaul, judges would be required to step down and be replaced by others elected by voters. Currently, judges are appointed after a lengthy process that includes exams showing their knowledge of the law.

Thailand needs to urgently tackle its high levels of household and public debt, and focus on policies that can propel the country’s growth rate to match some of its Southeast Asian neighbors, according to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Bloomberg News reported.

The number of companies that became insolvent in July was 16% higher than during the same period last year, according to official data, the Independent reported. In England and Wales, 2,191 businesses went bust, according to the Insolvency Service, compared with 1,890 in July 2023. The figures included 320 compulsory liquidations – when a company is forced to shut down, usually because it has debts it cannot pay – which is the highest monthly number since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Supreme Court in India on Tuesday refused to restrain the Interm resolution professional (IRP) of debt-ridden Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent of online educational services company Byju's, from constituting a committee of creditors (CoC), the Economic Times of India reported. A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud agreed to hear the case in detail on Thursday, including the bankrupt edtech company’s request to stall the formation of CoC.

The bankruptcy court in Kolkata has approved the Simplex Projects revival plan submitted by its promoter Sudarsshhan Das Mundhra, the Economic Times of India reported. Before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) nod, the company’s lenders approved the plan with 99.51% voting in favour of Mundhra’s resolution plan. The plan involves a proposal to pay Rs 235.28 crore against the total admitted liabilities of Rs 2,108.49 crore. The Kolkata-based infrastructure developer is a medium enterprise under the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.