Headlines

Britain and South Korea have agreed to extend a period of low or zero tariffs on bilateral trade of products with parts from the European Union, the British government said on Monday, in a boost for the car industry, Reuters reported. Without the two-year extension, British businesses would have faced high tariffs from Jan. 1 on exports of products made using EU components, under so-called rules of origin, and on products shipped via the EU.

Indebted French supermarket chain Casino said on Monday it had agreed an initial deal to sell its stake in Latin American retailer Almacenes Exito to Grupo Calleja. Casino's board on Friday approved a pre-agreement to sell its entire stake in Almacenes Exito to Grupo Calleja, a leading grocery retailer in El Salvador, it said. Casino is in the midst of a restructuring after years of debt-fuelled acquisitions had brought it to the verge of default.

The European Central Bank won’t lower interest rates until September 2024, according to a new poll of economists — suggesting the message from policymakers that cuts won’t come soon is sinking in, Bloomberg News reported. The result of the latest Bloomberg survey is a departure from the previous round, when respondents still saw borrowing costs being lowered in March. Another reduction is foreseen in October. The survey chimes with comments from ECB officials who spoke on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings in Marrakech in recent days.

China’s local authorities are finding it more expensive to sell bonds, the latest sign of rising stress as policymakers ramp up borrowings to stimulate growth and defuse short-term payment risks, Bloomberg News reported. Of the local government yuan bonds sold so far this year, 50 carry coupons with a premium of more than 25 basis points with comparable sovereign debt, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. That’s the most since 2020.

Kazakhstan's ecology ministry has appealed after a court failed to uphold its $5 billion lawsuit against the operator of the giant Kashagan oilfield, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Yerlan Nysanbayev said on Monday, Reuters reported. The ministry in March sued the field's operator - a group which includes Shell, Eni, TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil, over what it said were excessive deposits of sulphur and other environmental issues.

Italy’s far-right-led government on Monday approved a budget for next year that aims to bolster public health services, encourage families to have more children and put more money in the pockets of low- and medium-wage earners, the Associated Press reported. Premier Giorgia Meloni said the 24 billion-euro ($25 billion) budget, which includes 5 billion in spending cuts, is in line with the government’s priorities. She described it as both “serious” and “realistic," even as Italy faces an expected increase of 13 billion euros in payments to service its public debt as interest rates increase.

Kenya’s President William Ruto sought $1 billion more in loans from China Monday, despite rising public debt that has now reached $70 billion in the Eastern African country, according to National Treasury figures for 2022/2023, the Associated Press reported. President Ruto was was one of a number of global leaders in Beijing to attend the tenth anniversary meeting of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious plan that aims to connect Africa, Asia and Europe through massive infrastructure and energy projects.

The number of companies in Europe that go insolvent will keep growing until at least late next year as higher interest rates and tougher financing conditions weigh on businesses, according to a Scope Ratings analysis seen by Reuters on Thursday. Small businesses in sectors that are cyclical and sensitive, such as retail and construction, are facing the most pressure in the current economic environment, it said.

A key unit of collapsed UK caravan giant RoyaleLife was placed into administration this week, as a fight heats up among debtors owed hundreds of millions of pounds, Bloomberg News reported. Time GB Group Limited is one of around 200 companies that make up RoyaleLife, a group that was owned and founded by self-proclaimed billionaire Robert Bull, but has now mostly collapsed into insolvency. The firm acted as a treasury company for RoyaleLife, undertaking money transfers across the group, and is the closest thing the caravan giant had to a corporate center.

The founding family of Country Garden recently loaned the embattled Chinese property developer $300 million interest free, and the family was also trying to sell its private jet, a Chinese online news outlet,The Paper, reported on Friday. Citing insiders, The Paper said the family was seeking to support liquidity for China's largest private property developer, which has missed coupon payments on some dollar bonds since last month, but has not defaulted.