Headlines

Major Romanian electro-IT retailer Altex, which operates physical stores and an online store that hosts third-party sellers, purchased for an unspecified price a EUR 4.6 mln claim held by Banca Transilvania against insolvent online retailer of furniture and home decoration goods Vivre Deco, Wall-street.ro reported. Altex has expanded its activity in recent years to new product categories, including furniture, DIY, automotive products, toys, beverages and sanitary products.

Argentina's central bank hiked its benchmark interest rate a huge 10 percentage points to 91% on Thursday as it tries to tame high inflation and steady the peso currency, which has tumbled in black market trading over the last week, Reuters reported. The hike, the biggest since a market meltdown in August 2019, comes after the central bank (BCRA) had already lifted the rate last week by 300 basis points to 81% in an effort to control inflation running at 104% annually. The central bank confirmed the hike in a statement after Reuters earlier reported the move, citing bank sources.

A European judicial team pressed on with its corruption probe of Lebanon's embattled Central Bank governor on Thursday, questioning one of his aides and summoning his brother for another hearing next week, the Associated Press reported. The delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg is on its third visit to Lebanon to interrogate suspects and witnesses in an ongoing investigation of Gov. Riad Salameh and associates over several financial crimes and the laundering of some $330 million.

Australia’s central bank is set to extend a pause in interest-rate increases on Tuesday following a deceleration in inflation that allows the board more time to assess the economic impact of its policy tightening to date, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank will keep its cash rate at 3.6% for a second straight month, most economists predict and money market pricing shows. Deutsche Bank AG and Westpac Banking Corp. were among those that switched to hold from hike calls after first-quarter core inflation came in under forecasts.

Japan's factory activity contracted for the sixth straight month in April, but the details of a private survey released on Monday showed the manufacturing sector was edging towards stabilisation amid a slower decline in new orders, Reuters reported. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index was up slightly at 49.5 in April from March's 49.2, and matched the flash reading. New orders contracted at the softest pace since July while remaining below the 50.0 threshold for a tenth consecutive month as inbound demand stabilised moderately.

South Korea's exports fell for a seventh straight month in April for their longest losing streak in three years, driven by an extended slump in sales to China and suggesting persistent pressure on the economy from frail global demand, Reuters reported. The downturn comes despite the reopening of the Chinese economy - a major market for South Korean goods and especially for chips - in December, and raises the challenge for policymakers as they push for a robust post-COVID revival.

Ahead of Brazil's next monetary policy decision, the Finance Minister expressed apprehension on Thursday about the economic impact of high interest rates, while the central bank's chief continued to emphasize inflation concerns, Reuters reported. Speaking at a Senate debate session on interest rates, inflation, and economic growth, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad warned that failure to integrate the country's monetary and fiscal policies would create "a lot of difficulty" in achieving the Brazilian economy's needs.

The Bolivian financial regulator (ASFI) will offer the savings deposited in Banco Fassil to other banks that can guarantee its devolution, a process that could last a month, but if this fails, a forced liquidation of assets may be considered, said ASFI Director Reynaldo Yujra in a press conference, Bloomberg News reported. Fassil reported liquidity problems since the beginning of the year but the situation worsened in March, when the entity cut its credit and debit card services and interrupted online transfers.

Portugal's government has mandated state holding company Parpublica to pick two independent assessors to value airline TAP ahead of its privatisation, which could be launched in July, the finance minister said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The state owns 100% of TAP, which is currently restructuring under a Brussels-approved 3.2 billion euro ($3.5 billion) rescue plan, and the government is considering an outright or partial sale. "These two independent assessments are mandatory before launching the privatisation.

Brazil’s lower house will investigate the events leading up to the financial crisis at Americanas SA, the retail giant that went into bankruptcy protection in January after unveiling a massive accounting hole of 20 billion reais ($4 billion), Bloomberg News reported. Speaker Arthur Lira authorized the creation of an inquiry committee on Wednesday and party leaders will now nominate representatives to lead the probe.