Headlines

The European Central Bank still views commercial real estate contagion as one of the main risks for financial stability and is actively monitoring the situation, Vice President Luis de Guindos said, Bloomberg News reported. Speaking to reporters in Frankfurt on Thursday after a monetary-policy decision, he acknowledged that fallout has been limited but that officials remain watchful for any ripples spreading from the impact of high borrowing costs and plunging valuations.

China's export and import growth in the January-February period beat forecasts, suggesting global trade is turning a corner in an encouraging signal for policymakers as they try to shore up a stuttering economic recovery, Reuters reported. China's improved export data joins those of South Korea and Germany, and Taiwan, who all saw their shipments top expectations over the first two months of the year, with the Asian economies benefiting from a surge in demand for semiconductors.

Total borrowing by governments in rich countries is set to hit a record high of $15.8 trillion this year, with the cost of making interest payments rising over coming years as bonds issued before the inflation surge mature, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a report on global debt, the Paris-based research body said Thursday that gross borrowing—which includes refinancing maturing bonds as well as new issuance—rose to $14.1 trillion in 2023 from $12.1 trillion in 2022.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday tightened rules for credit and debit cards used for business accounts, Reuters reported. The RBI asked business card-issuers to put in place an effective mechanism to monitor end use of funds. Last month, the RBI had ordered Visa to stop using an unauthorized route to make business-to-business card payments which used fintech companies as an intermediary. The regulator on Thursday also said that card-issuers cannot share data of customers with outsourcing partners, unless it is "essential to discharge the functions" of the outsourcing partners.

Argentina's industrial output slid 12.4% in January from a year earlier, the second straight month it has plunged in double digits amid a tough austerity and cost-cutting drive since new libertarian President Javier Milei took office in December, Reuters reported. The decline was the eighth straight month falling, official data showed Wednesday, amid a prolonged economic contraction and soaring inflation running at over 250%, that has badly hurt consumer spending power and consumption.

Hungary's Central Bank said on Thursday repeated "attacks" by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government on its monetary policy could backfire and limit the scope for easing, Reuters reported. Orban and his former ally, central bank Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy, have been involved in an increasingly bitter policy spat since a 2022 election, with the sides trading blame over a surge in inflation to the highest levels in the European Union.

Australia’s commodity-rich economy is on track for a soft landing, despite an alarming slowdown over the last year, supported by a household savings and an injection of pension funds as members of Generation X join baby boomers in retirement, according to the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock, the Wall Street Journal reported. Craig Vardy, a portfolio manager for BlackRock based in Sydney, told reporters at a briefing that with swarms now tapping their retirement funds, the pool of savings in the economy is rising and is acting to ward off a recession.

Sri Lanka's president said Wednesday that he is seeking a loan repayment moratorium until 2028 as the debt-ridden country tries to emerge from bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported. President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament the government is asking lenders to accept a plan to defer payments for five years and then pay down the debts from the beginning of 2028 through 2042.

Insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT on Wednesday gave an ultimatum and said that if the issues between Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) and Suraksha group over Jaypee Infratech are not settled by the second week of April then it would proceed ahead, the Economic Times of India reported.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dismissed an application filed by Vistra ITCL to direct the resolution professional (RP) of realty developer Satra Properties India to include its additional claim of Rs 51 crore that would have taken its total admitted claim to over Rs 131 crore, the Economic Times of India reported. Vistra informed the bankruptcy court that the RP had partially rejected the lenders’ financial claim, which should have been admitted in its entirety.