Headlines

China’s top leaders signaled more support for the troubled real estate sector alongside pledges to boost consumption and resolve local government debt, though fell short of announcing large-scale stimulus to support the slowing economic recovery, Bloomberg News reported. The ruling Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo — its top decision-making body led by President Xi Jinping — promised “counter-cyclical” policy, according to a readout published Monday by the official Xinhua News Agency. That suggested more economic support as well as an “adjustment” of restrictions in the property sector.

SBB, the embattled landlord at the center of Sweden’s property crisis, received demands from a group of bondholders to make sweeping changes, in an escalation of tensions over efforts to close a looming funding gap, Bloomberg News reported. The creditors, advised by PJT Partners, demanded that Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB — as the company is formally known —appoint two new board members and a chief restructuring officer, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News.

Israel’s Parliament was preparing on Monday to pass a law reducing the power of judges to overrule government decisions and appointments, a plan that has sent hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets and threatens to undermine the country’s economy and security, Bloomberg News reported. The bill is sponsored by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who was discharged from the hospital Monday and joined the debate after having a cardiac pacemaker inserted. Advocates for law argue that the courts have grown too powerful and are captured by the left.

Mexico’s inflation extended its gradual slowdown in early July, roughly in line with forecasts, helped by double-digit interest rates and the strongest peso since 2015, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 4.79% in the first half of the month compared to the same period a year earlier, down from 4.93% in late June, the national statistics institute reported Monday. The result was just above the 4.77% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Economists now see a soft landing for the Canadian economy, with no recession this year despite interest rates at a 22-year high, Bloomberg News reported. The economy will stall in the second half of 2023 but it won’t contract, according to a monthly Bloomberg survey of 27 economists. The median forecast sees the Bank of Canada holding its overnight rate at 5% well into next year — with no rate cuts until April. The results support the Bank of Canada’s view that economic growth is moderating, while core inflation remains elevated.

British homebuilders are building fewer homes, cutting down on land purchases and offering more incentives as high mortgage rates and the lack of any immediate support from the government make homes less affordable for first-time buyers, Reuters reported. Top UK residential builder Barratt said this month it would build around 20% fewer homes in its fiscal year 2024, while high-end builder Berkeley expects annual sales to fall by a fifth. Midcap firms Bellway and Crest Nicholson have also pointed to high mortgage rates hampering demand from first-time buyers. And that's not all.

A group of lenders to Byju’s will work with the Indian education-technology startup to change the terms of a $1.2 billion loan after the company fell into distress, Bloomberg News reported. A steering committee of creditors — who together own more than 85% of the term loan — and Byju’s have agreed to work toward a “signed and completed” amendment before Aug. 3, the lenders said in a statement Monday, confirming a Bloomberg News story.

Ghana’s central bank surprised financial markets by raising borrowing cost to a record high to speed up a deceleration in inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee lifted the rate to 30% from 29.5%, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters in the capital, Accra, on Monday. Only three of 13 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted an increase. The cedi stayed about 0.3% weaker after the announcement to trade at 11.48 per the dollar by 12:32 p.m. in Accra.

The International Monetary Fund expects to conclude a review of its $44 billion financing program to Argentina in the coming days, potentially giving the South American nation a lifeline to keep its economy afloat until a new president takes office in December, Reuters reported. The IMF said on Sunday it had reached “understandings” on goals and parameters underlying a staff-level agreement that will eventually be submitted to its board for approval.