Headlines

On the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia, a cluster of high rises built to house tens of thousands of people in luxury condominiums overlooks the sea. Nearly a decade after troubled Chinese real-estate giant Country Garden began building the enclave, it is almost completely vacant, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some people are now highly interested in it: Country Garden’s international creditors.

China’s securities regulator pledged more measures to support capital markets and said that it recently met with investors including BlackRock Inc. and Bridgewater Associates to hear their suggestions, Bloomberg News reported. Three meetings were held in recent days between officials from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), including its head Yi Huiman, and representatives from foreign and domestic investment firms, as well as economists and academics.

The deadline for submitting preliminary interest to bid for insolvent Go Airlines (India) is likely to be extended by another two-to-three weeks amid lack of any such application by suitors, two banking sources told Reuters on Friday. The resolution professional for the company, which operated the Go First carrier, had in July invited investor interest on behalf of creditors after the airline filed for insolvency in May. The deadline was initially set for Aug. 9, but was later extended to Sept. 8.

Argentina suffered a big legal defeat on Friday as a U.S. judge ruled that the country must pay about $16 billion to minority shareholders of YPF arising from the government’s 2012 seizure of a majority stake in the oil and gas company, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan ruled in favor of Burford Capital, which funded the litigation brought by shareholders Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management LP, and according to court papers was entitled to a respective 70% and 75% of their damages.

Validus Power Corp., which operates a power plant in northern Ontario, has been forced into receivership, CTVNews.ca reported. Validus ran the power plant under an agreement with Macquarie Equipment Finance Ltd. In April 2022, Macquarrie bought the turbines, plant and equipment from Iroquois Falls Power Corp. for $45 million, then leased it back to Validus to operate. Under the lease agreement with Validus, Macquarie was to receive monthly rent payments, with the understanding that the corporation could be forced into bankruptcy if it defaulted.

The leader of Shropshire Council said the authority considered issuing a notice to declare bankruptcy, but decided against it, BBC.com reported. Inflation and increased demand for services meant the council's reserves were "practically gone". They raised the issue in a cabinet meeting in the same week that Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt. Leader Lezley Picton said a plan was in place to control finances. Last year, Ms Picton said adult social care made up 85% of the council's entire budget. Leaving just 15% for everything else.

Uruguay's central bank is likely to cut its benchmark interest rate again at its next monetary policy meeting in October as inflation has fallen to a near two-decade low, governor Diego Labat told Reuters on Friday, Reuters reported. The South American country has led the region's pivot to rate cutting after sharp hikes by central banks around Latin America in recent years to rein in prices, an aggressive tightening cycle that helped many get inflation under control.

Tunisia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged despite a pick-up in inflation, as political tensions hinder reform efforts needed to obtain a loan from the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. Banque Central de Tunisie kept the rate at 8%, the regulator said in a statement following a board meeting Thursday. The “current stance of the monetary policy will support a further easing of inflation over the coming period,” it said.

An agreement between El Salvador and a group of private local banks to reprofile its short-term debt has helped extend a stellar rally in its international bonds, which have returned more than 90% this year, Reuters reported. The government announced last week that it accepted the proposal by eight private banks to extend the maturities of short term local bills into new two, three, five and seven year notes. The size of the operation is approximately $1.45 billion, the finance ministry told Reuters.

Russian policymakers believe the nation’s economy has adapted to the costs of the war on Ukraine and international sanctions and will continue to grow over the next few years, Bloomberg News reported. The Economy Ministry sees Russian gross domestic product slowing to 2.3% over the next two years from 2.8% in 2023, according to its macroeconomic forecast through 2026, which was discussed at a government meeting led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Friday and seen by Bloomberg News. GDP growth is expected to further decline to 2.2% in 2026.