Headlines

The National Company Law Tribunal on Friday adjourned the insolvency pleas filed by aircraft lessor Wilmington SP Trust Services against SpiceJet. and listed it for July 17, the Economic Times of India reported. The senior counsel appearing for SpiceJet argued that Aircastle (Ireland) and Wilmington SP Trust Services were the same entity and so this was the third petition filed by Aircastle (Ireland). Aircastle (Ireland) has filed two separate petitions to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process against the airline.

A development bank China launched with its fellow Brics countries was supposed to reshape international finance. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now risks turning it into a zombie bank, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians say higher borrowing costs are squeezing their pocketbooks, a result that’s at odds with a recent rebound in household consumption, Bloomberg News reported. Some 64% of Canadians say higher interest rates are having a negative or somewhat negative impact on their personal spending, according to a Nanos Research Group survey conducted for Bloomberg News. Another 28% said there was no impact, while 6% said the impact was positive. The survey may raise questions about why a spending slowdown hasn’t yet shown up in the data.

Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have a $44 billion dilemma, with the two sides set to meet for crunch talks to revamp the country's huge, wobbling debt deal, key to avoiding default on billions in looming debt payments, Reuters reported. The South American country, a serial defaulter that has struggled for years with inflation and currency crises, struck a $57 billion loan deal with the IMF in 2018, which failed and was replaced last year with a new $44 billion program.

Colombian mortgage and commercial lending are unexpectedly resilient after the central bank’s steepest-ever series of interest rate rises, according to the head of the nation’s biggest bank, Bloomberg News reported. Bancolombia SA expects its lending to grow by 6% to 8% in nominal terms, from about 23% last year, Chief Executive Officer Juan Carlos Mora said. Some home buyers are taking into account the possibility of refinancing at lower rates in the future, he added.

Kenya is considering options including a potential buyback of part of a $2 billion bond due next year, Bloomberg News reported. Chris Kiptoo, the principal secretary of the National Treasury, declined to confirm the possible debt repurchase, but said the country is in talks with advisors and reviewing other alternatives. “We have many options,” he said in an interview.

Tunisia's central bank held its key interest rate unchanged at 8%, it announced on Friday, saying that keeping the interest rate at the current level will continue to push inflation downward, Reuters reported. In December, the bank raised the key interest rate by 75 basis points to 8% to combat high inflation, marking its third rate hike last year. The annual inflation rate eased to 9.6% in May from 10.1% in April, and a high of 10.4% in February. "The current monetary trends would contribute to pushing down inflation rates during the coming period", the bank said in statement.

An Australian company that clinched the first U.S. clearance for its at-home Covid-19 test kit has collapsed into liquidation after a sale to a competitor fell through, Bloomberg News reported. Covid-19 test maker Ellume Ltd.’s sale to Hough Consolidated Pty Ltd. unraveled this week, and the company is now winding down operations, according to a statement. Hough had agreed to buy the company in December for $38 million (A$56 million), but the deal fell apart after Hough made repeated requests to extend deadlines tied to the agreement.

China's economy stumbled in May with industrial output and retail sales growth missing forecasts, Reuters reported. The economic rebound seen earlier this year has lost momentum in the second quarter, prompting China's central bank to cut some key interest rates this week for the first time in nearly a year, with expectations of more to come.