Headlines

Sweden’s Riksbank asked lawmakers to restore its equity after the central bank posted large losses on bonds amassed during a period of slow inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank needs a capital injection of 43.7 billion Swedish kronor ($4.1 billion) to bring its equity to the basic level required by law, according to a proposal it submitted on Tuesday. The need for a recapitalization comes as central banks around the world have seen assets bought as part of quantitative-easing programs lose value.

Japan must shift its policy focus away from crisis-mode stimulus towards achieving private sector-driven economic growth, a government panel said on Tuesday in the wake of the central bank's decision to end eight years of negative interest rates, Reuters reported. In a proposal to the government's top economic council, the panel urged policy changes in the face of rising domestic prices and interest rates, as well as wage growth at a 30-year high as companies face job shortages.

South Korea’s headline inflation topped 3% for a second consecutive month in March, remaining sticky and well above the central bank’s 2% target, the Wall Street Journal reported. The latest inflation print, which came ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate-decision meeting next week, is likely to bolster the bank’s current stance to not rush for easing but stand pat for now before it starts rate cuts. The benchmark consumer-price index rose 3.1% from a year earlier, the same pace as in February, the country’s statistics office said on Tuesday.

Fitch Ratings stripped Panama of its investment-grade credit rating as the closure of a key copper mine last year added to the country’s fiscal worries and risks undermining growth prospects, Bloomberg News reported. The Central American nation’s credit score was cut to BB+ from BBB- on Thursday, with a stable outlook. That’s in line with Vietnam, Colombia and Serbia. A downgrade by Moody’s Ratings is expected for the second half of the year, according to Morgan Stanley strategist Emma Cerda.

The Reserve Bank of Australia now feels that risks around the outlook for the economy are slightly more balanced than earlier in the year, while signaling that it isn’t ruling any policy options in or out for now, the Wall Street Journal reported. In minutes of its March 18-19 policy meeting published Tuesday, the interest-rate setting board of the RBA said that while there are ongoing risks to inflation and weak economic growth, they are largely even.

The World Bank is poised to approve $1.2 billion of budget financing to Kenya before the end of April, unlocking key financing for the East African nation that wants to cut its reliance on commercial debt, Bloomberg News reported. The amount is slightly less than the $1.5 billion that Kenyan authorities had anticipated receiving from the Washington-based lender and follows other disbursements by the International Monetary Fund as well as Trade and Development Bank, a pan-African lender. Kenya had earmarked the World Bank funds to finance its budget in the fiscal year that ends June 30.

WOM, once a rising Chilean startup that vowed to challenge the country’s dominant telecom operators, filed for bankruptcy after falling short on a plan to refinance $348 million in debt due in November, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in Delaware, according to court documents filed today. The filing, which lists between $1 billion and $10 billion in liabilities and same in assets, allows WOM to keep operating while it works on a plan to repay creditors.

The owners of Thames Water will reportedly start urgent restructuring talks in the coming days as the embattled firm’s parent company Kemble risks entering insolvency within weeks unless lenders agree to a debt-for-equity deal, City A.M. reported. Restructuring experts Alvarez & Marsal will discuss all options with creditors, including bank lenders and bondholders, the Financial Times reported.

Thai retailer Central Group wants to take over some real estate assets from insolvent Austrian property company Signa, including KaDeWe in Germany and Selfridges in London, Reuters reported. Central Group is interested in Signa's entire luxury group, which also includes Alsterhaus in Hamburg, Oberpollinger in Munich, and Globus in Switzerland, according to a Business Insider report. The report said Central is already substantially invested in Signa's luxury holdings.