Headlines

Britain’s inflation rate held steady in May, frustrating expectations that price increases would slow down, according to data released Wednesday, the day before the country’s central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates again, the New York Times reported. Consumer prices rose 8.7 percent from a year earlier, the same as in April, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had forecast it would dip slightly.

The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a new trade doctrine aimed at curbing China’s ability to squeeze Europe’s economy, and at preventing European companies from exporting sensitive, military-linked technology that could give China an edge, the New York Times reported. The policy, still in its early stages, highlights how the European Union is seeking to align itself with the United States in limiting China’s access to sensitive markets and industrial secrets. It also reflects growing concerns about Beijing’s deepening alliance with Moscow.

The French economy is on course to avoid a recession this year while inflation pressures ease though growth and will only gradually pick up in the coming two years, the central bank forecast on Wednesday, Reuters reported. In its quarterly outlook, the Bank of France said the euro zone's second-biggest economy would grow 0.1% in the current quarter from the previous three months and 0.2% in both the third and fourth quarters.

Canadian retail sales grew much more than expected in April and will likely post another gain in May, data showed on Wednesday, bolstering the chances that the Bank of Canada will raise rates again in next month, Reuters reported. Retail sales climbed 1.1% in April, higher than a median forecast for a 0.2% increase, Statistics Canada said. In a preliminary estimate, Statscan said sales increased by another 0.5% in May.

Bond investors in Credito Real SAB are crying foul after being left in the dark for more than a year in one of the largest corporate blowouts in Mexico’s recent history, Bloomberg News reported. After defaulting on $1.9 billion of dollar bonds in February 2022, the non-bank lender embarked on a liquidation process in a Mexico City court that bondholders say has been tilted against them. Now, lawyers are pushing for a deal that they say would allow creditors to recoup as much as 23 cents on the dollar.

Mexican retail sales rose much more than expected in April, data from national statistics agency INEGI showed on Tuesday, pointing to a strong start to the second quarter despite tight financial conditions, Reuters reported. Sales rose 1.5% in the month from March, beating market expectations of a 0.2% increase in a Reuters poll, helped by a strengthening peso and falling inflation, which has been hovering its lowest in almost two years.

Singapore’s financial regulator imposed penalties amounting to a total of S$3.8 million ($2.8 million) on four financial institutions for breaches related to the Wirecard AG scandal, Bloomberg News reported. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Citigroup Inc., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and Swiss Life Holding AG were found to have inadequate money laundering and terrorism financing controls in place when they dealt with parties linked to Wirecard, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement on Wednesday.

The European Union's powerful lending arm, the European Investment Bank, expects to back its first 'debt-for-nature' swap this year as it bolsters efforts to stem biodiversity loss, Reuters reported. Debt-for-nature swaps, which help countries cut their debt in return for conservation commitments, are attracting growing interest after Ecuador's record $1.6 billion deal last month to protect the Galapagos Islands. "We are working with a number of countries," Maria Shaw-Barragan, a Director of Lending at the 'EIB Global' arm of the bank that lends outside the EU, told Reuters.

Chinese banks trimmed benchmark interest rates on loans to households and businesses, a telegraphed move that follows earlier rate cuts aimed at reigniting a fading economic recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported. Economists say lower borrowing costs might not be the right medicine for China’s economy, however, as households and businesses have shown little appetite to borrow with debt levels already high and prospects for jobs and growth deeply uncertain.