Headlines

Real estate was the most distressed sector in Europe in the second quarter of the year, driven by rising pressure on liquidity, softer investment metrics and squeezed profitability, Bloomberg News reported. Higher interest rates, increased debt servicing costs and a fall in demand for office space “is putting intense pressure on the market,” according to the Weil European Distress Index report. The study, by law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, aggregates data from more than 3,750 listed European firms.

Britain’s public finances are on an unsustainable path and rapidly deteriorating, the Treasury’s fiscal watchdog said in a report that highlighted multi-billion-pound demands for spending on defense, climate and health, Bloomberg News reported. The Office for Budget Responsibility said in its fiscal risks report that UK public debt will soar to more than 300% of gross domestic product by 2072-73, a scenario deemed “optimistic” given the threat of future shocks.

Qingdao city in China's debt-laden Shandong province has set up a company to bail out its cash-strapped local government financing vehicles (LGFVs), sources said, as regional governments rush to reduce debt risks in a wobbly economy, Reuters reported. Dongdin Industrial Group, funded by policy lender China Development Bank and having a registered capital of 10 billion yuan ($1.40 billion), is tasked with providing liquidity support to Qingdao's LGFVs - vehicles set up by local governments to finance mainly infrastructure projects, two sources said.

Desperate for capital and with their economies struggling, China’s cities are wooing Western businesses with previously unavailable goodies. Beijing has labeled 2023 the “Year of Investing in China” and local officials have embarked on promotional tours overseas to drum up interest from investors. That effort is running headlong into President Xi Jinping’s national-security agenda, with its focus on fending off perceived foreign threats, the Wall Street Journal reported. That has made any Chinese investment a potential minefield for foreign firms.

China's exports fell last month at their fastest pace since the onset three years ago of the COVID-19 pandemic, as an ailing global economy puts mounting pressure on Chinese policymakers for fresh stimulus measures, Reuters reported. Momentum in China's post-COVID recovery has slowed after a brisk pickup in the first quarter, with analysts now downgrading their projections for the economy for the rest of the year.

China's economy is slowing due to weaker private investment, slowing exports and reduced domestic demand after a strong performance in the first quarter as the economy reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, Reuters reported. "So the overall picture for growth in China is one of a slowing economy and that is consistent with the forecast that we had in April," IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular news briefing, adding that the Fund was observing "subdued" inflation in China.

Argentines are tightening their wallets to make end meets as the South American country battles inflation which could surpass 140% on an annual basis this year, hunting for the cheapest prices on basic goods to shield their income, Reuters reported. The national statistics office INDEC is set to release the country's June inflation figure later on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the rate of rising prices to slow to 7.0% in June from 7.8% the previous month.

Non-league Southend United have been given more time to clear a £275,000 tax debt, YahooFinance.com reported. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued a winding-up petition. A judge in a specialist court was told on Wednesday that a sale of the club was in progress. Judge Sally Barber, who oversaw a hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court hearing at the Rolls Building in central London, said the case would be reconsidered in six weeks. She was told by Southend chairman Ron Martin that more time was needed to complete the sale of the club and clear the debt.

In the race to win control for debt-laden supermarket operator Casino Guichard-Perrachon, the two bidders are working on how to charm creditors, the company and the government after laying out their initial plans, Bloomberg News reported. The groups — 3F, formed by banker Matthieu Pigasse, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and retail entrepreneur Moez-Alexandre Zouari, and a rival composed of Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière’s Fimalac — have until Friday to improve their bids.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday dismissed a plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Religare Enterprises Ltd observing that it was a financial service provider and does not come under the ambit of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Economic Times of India reported.