Headlines

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Thursday said it was crucial to draw lessons from the Credit Suisse crisis that led to the bank's downfall and forced rescue by rival UBS and consider measures that would prevent such events in the future, Reuters reported. "These measures need to strengthen banks’ resilience in order to prevent a loss of confidence wherever possible, and ensure a broad range of effective options to stabilise, recover or wind down a systemically important bank in the event of a crisis," the central bank said in its 2023 financial stability report.

Norway’s central bank accelerated interest-rate increases and pledged more aggressive tightening, intensifying its response to stubborn inflation and a weak currency, Bloomberg News reported. Norges Bank lifted its key deposit rate on Thursday by 50 basis points to 3.75%, prompting the krone to post its biggest advance in two weeks. The decision outcome was anticipated by a large minority of economists, with the rest predicting a smaller move. This is the 11th hike in the Norwegian benchmark since September 2021.

Brazil’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at a six-year high and stopped short of endorsing imminent reductions, frustrating a growing campaign for looser monetary policy from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, business leaders and top politicians, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers kept the benchmark Selic at 13.75% for a seventh straight meeting as widely anticipated late on Wednesday.

The Bank of Canada agreed that the need for further rate hikes would be determined by fresh economic data after it lifted rates to a 22-year high earlier this month, minutes from their policy meetings released on Wednesday showed, Reuters reported. Analysts said the tone of the notes made it clear the central bank was likely to raise rates again next month. On June 7 the bank, which had been on hold since January, raised its overnight rate to 4.75%. In its summary of deliberations, or minutes, the governing council said growth and inflation had been stronger than expected.

Egypt's cabinet has approved a draft law to eliminate tax exemptions for state entities in a bid to attract private investment, a cabinet statement said on Wednesday, but the law appeared to retain at least some privileges enjoyed by the army, Reuters reported. Egypt, in the midst of a severe foreign currency shortage, has been seeking to encourage both foreigners and Egyptians to invest more. Many investors have hesitated out of concern that state-owned enterprises, including those owned by the army, use tax exemptions and other privileges to compete unfairly.

Turkey's central bank hiked its key rate by 650 basis points to 15% on Thursday and said it would go further in a reversal of President Tayyip Erdogan's policy, although the post-election tightening missed expectations and the lira fell, Reuters reported. In its first meeting under new Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, the bank changed course after years of monetary easing in which the one-week repo rate had dropped to 8.5% from 19% in 2021 despite soaring inflation. Analysts said that the move suggested Erkan might have limited room to aggressively tackle inflation under Erdogan's watch.

Argentina will make scheduled payments totaling some $1.9 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday, an economy ministry source said, Reuters reported. The South American country is in talks with the IMF to revamp its $44 billion loan program with the lender as it battles with dwindling foreign currency reserves, a weak peso currency and annual inflation over 100%. Argentina has $2.7 billion due to the fund this month alone.

The International Monetary Fund has reached its target of making $100 billion in special drawing rights available for vulnerable countries, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told a summit held in Paris on Thursday, Reuters reported. Rich countries agreed in 2021 to rechannel some of their unused IMF special drawing rights, an international reserve currency, to poor countries. The plan was to make $100 billion available by lending the SDRS back to the IMF so that it could in turn lend the funds at below-market rates to low-income countries.

German automotive supplier Allgaier, whose customers include Porsche, has filed for insolvency, a court said on Wednesday, a year after being sold to a Chinese investor, Reuters reported. The Goeppingen district court said that it had appointed Pluta law firm's Fritz Zanker as provisional insolvency administrator. Allgaier, which has about 1,700 employees, supplies major car manufacturers with sheet metal parts and is also active in toolmaking and process engineering.

The High Court has appointed an interim examiner to the company that operates the Iceland chain of retail stores in Ireland, the Irish Examiner reported. The court heard Metron Stores Limited, which is in difficulties due to factors including a recent order served on it by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland requiring it to withdraw all imported frozen food of animal origin from its stores, is insolvent and unable to pay estimated debts of €36m as they fall due.