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At an unfinished Country Garden residential complex on the outskirts of the northern Chinese metropolis of Tianjin, construction has slowed to a dull whirr and a few idle workers roam a near-empty site, Reuters reported. "They haven't paid us since Chinese New Year (in January). We are all worried," said a labourer surnamed Wang, 50, who said he had stopped work at the Yunhe Shangyuan site last week. The sprawling complex is one of two projects Reuters visited on Friday in Tianjin, a port city of 14 million people about 135 km (84 miles) southeast of Beijing.

After months of underperforming the broader market, Canada’s Big Six banks are likely to continue struggling as expenses and loan-loss provisions rise and consumer finances deteriorate, Bloomberg News reported. Higher interest rates are expected to hurt lenders’ fiscal third-quarter earnings when they begin to report Thursday. Inflation data on both sides of the border have ratcheted up bets that central banks could raise rates further still, which would further erode spending power and borrowing demand.

German business activity contracted at the fastest pace for more than three years in August, a preliminary survey showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The HCOB German Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 44.7 from July's 48.5, hitting its lowest since May 2020 and confounding analysts' expectations for a reading of 48.3. The indicator was below the 50 level denoting growth in activity for the second consecutive month.

The Czech government will scale back a planned loan from the European Union's post-COVID recovery fund to 19.4 billion crowns (805.75 million euros), from the initially planned 137 billion crowns, Industry Minister Jozef Sikela said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The reductions were made after consultations with the European Commission, which concluded some of the funding Czechia needs could come from other channels, Sikela said.

Canadian June retail sales grew by 0.1% from the previous month driven mostly by car sales, data showed on Wednesday, a sign of weak consumer spending that could convince the central bank that interest rate hikes are sinking in, Reuters reported. The slight June gain was led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers as well as gasoline stations and fuel vendors, Statistics Canada said. Excluding sales of cars and car parts, retail sales declined 0.8% in June. Economists had forecast June sales would be flat and that they would rise 0.3% excluding autos.

Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Tuesday that he expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board to approve the latest reviews of its huge loan program on Wednesday, unlocking $7.5 billion the embattled country desperately needs, Reuters reported. The board green light would come after the South American nation reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF in July to unlock the funds and complete the combined fifth and sixth reviews of its struggling $44 billion loan program.

Brazil’s lower house of congress approved new fiscal rules on Tuesday, finalizing legislation meant to shore up public finances and assuage market concerns about President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s spending plans, Bloomberg News reported. Lawmakers voted 379-64 in favor of the fiscal plan, which will be sent to Lula for his signature. The bill’s passage will pave the way for Lula’s administration to align its 2024 budget plan with the new rules.

Liquidity in the banking system has slipped into a deficit for the first time in FY24 as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to impound a chunk of banks' extra funds - and hence reduce inflation risks - has led to a cash shortfall amid tax outflows, the Economic Times of India reported. Daily central bank data showed that the RBI injected funds worth ₹23,644.4 crore into the banking system on August 21, marking the first infusion of cash since March 27. An injection of funds by the RBI reflects deficit liquidity conditions in the banking system.

Cryptoassets, peddled as the future of finance, have not only failed to deliver on their promise but are themselves adding to financial risks in developing economies, according to a paper from the Bank for International Settlements, Reuters reported. "Cryptoassets hold out the illusory appeal of being a simple and quick solution for financial challenges" especially in emerging markets, but "have so far not reduced but rather amplified the financial risks in less developed economies," the BIS report showed.

Russian authorities are working on a draft presidential decree to give the country's retail investors a way to unblock their frozen assets held in overseas accounts and sell them to foreign parties, the central bank said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. International sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine have blocked many Russian investors' access to securities held in jurisdictions outside the country, while Russian countermeasures have frozen Western funds within.