Headlines

Japan's economy contracted in July-September, snapping two straight quarters of expansion on soft consumption and exports, complicating the central bank's efforts to gradually phase out its massive monetary stimulus amid rising inflation, Reuters reported. The data suggests stubbornly high inflation is taking a toll on household spending, and adding to the pain for manufacturers from slowing global demand including in China. "Given the absence of a growth engine, it wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese economy contracted again in the current quarter.

China's industrial output and retail sales growth beat expectations in October, but the underlying economic picture highlighted significant pockets of weakness with the crisis-hit property sector continuing to forestall a full-blown revival, Reuters reported. The world's second-biggest economy has struggled to mount a strong post-COVID recovery as distress in the housing market, local government debt risks, slow global growth and geopolitical tensions have dented momentum.

Germany’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that the government’s plan to repurpose tens of billions of euros from a pandemic fund to help finance environmental projects violated the nation’s Constitution, the New York Times reported. The decision threatens to rip a hole in the country’s budget and complicate its transition to a greener economy.

Peru's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 1.29% in September from the same month last year, the government's INEI statistics agency said on Wednesday, marking a fifth consecutive month of decline and landing well below analysts' expectations, Reuters reported. The figure comes after Adrian Armas, the chief economist of Peru's central bank warned last week that July to September could mark a third straight quarter of economic contraction in the Andean country, the world's second-largest copper producer.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has urged countries to make a more proactive push to develop central bank digital currencies (CBDC), Reuters reported. Eleven countries, including a number in the Caribbean, and Nigeria, have already launched CBDCs. Around 120 others are exploring them, although progress and approaches differ widely and a few have even abandoned the idea altogether. "We may be at a point where the public sector needs to offer a little more guidance," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech in Singapore.

Turkey's new rules to regulate the crypto market are likely to focus on licensing and taxation, sector officials say, as the world's fourth-biggest crypto-trading country seeks to get off an international financial crime watchdog's "grey list," Reuters reported. Ankara promised the regulations last month amidst a years-long boom in crypto trading, as soaring inflation and a plunging lira currency drives a demand for alternative assets.

The world spent the past decade-plus taking advantage of rock-bottom interest rates to binge on debt. An unprecedented bill is coming due, the Wall Street Journal reported. Governments are expected to spend a net $2 trillion paying interest on their debt this year as higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive, up more than 10% from 2022, according to an analysis of International Monetary Fund data by research consulting firm Teal Insights and a separate analysis by Fitch Ratings. By 2027, it could top $3 trillion, according to Teal Insights.

The number of firms going bust in England and Wales has jumped yet again as the higher-for-longer interest rate environment continues to put pressure on businesses and consumers. Monthly data from the Insolvency Service showed there were 2,315 insolvencies among registered companies in October, up 18 percent from last October when there was 1,954, City AM reported. Around 82 percent (1,889) of last month’s insolvencies were creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), where an insolvent company’s directors choose to wind up.

Germany is seeing a growing number of businesses and individuals apply for insolvency as well as declaring bankruptcy according to its Federal Statistics Office (Destatis), which published preliminary details from an annual report on Tuesday, DW.com reported. According to the office's data, insolvency applications rose 22.4% in October 2023 as compared to October 2022. That number had been 19.5% in September. Statisticians said they have consistently registered double-digit increases since June.

China plans to provide at least 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) of low-cost financing to the nation’s urban village renovation and affordable housing programs in its latest effort to shore up the struggling property market, Bloomberg News reported. The People’s Bank of China would inject funds in phases through policy banks with the money ultimately trickling down to households for home purchases, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.