Headlines

Bank of Mexico board member Jonathan Heath said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that he does not see the central bank's benchmark interest rate reaching 12%, Reuters reported. "In my very personal opinion and based on the data available today, I do not see the terminal rate reaching 12%, but rather I estimate that it will be located in a range of 11.25% to 11.75%," Heath told newspaper El Financiero. The central bank's governing board raised its key interest rate to a record 11% this month amid stubborn inflation.

Outstanding loans in Brazil decreased by 0.3% in January, according to central bank data on Monday, marking the first decline in a year, Reuters reported. The result suggests a slowdown that is likely to gain momentum in a scenario of high borrowing costs following the aggressive monetary tightening implemented by the central bank to curb inflation. Outstanding loans fell to 5.3 trillion reais ($1 trillion) in January, with loans to companies decreasing by 2.4%, while credit to families rose by 1.1%.

The Brazilian government is closely monitoring the credit market to ensure liquidity and considering measures for specific sectors, Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron said on Monday, Reuters reported. His comments come amid concerns of the new leftist administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva regarding the impact of high borrowing costs on economic growth, as the country's benchmark interest rate remains at a six-year high of 13.75% to combat inflation. "The government is carefully monitoring the credit market to ensure liquidity and access," Ceron told a news conference.

The two major earthquakes which hit Turkey on Feb. 6 caused about $34.2 billion in direct physical damage, but total reconstruction and recovery costs facing the country could be twice as high, the World Bank said on Monday, Reuters reported. The bank estimates that the earthquakes would also shave at least half a percentage point off Turkey's forecast gross domestic product growth of 3.5% to 4% in 2023, Humberto Lopez, World Bank country director for Turkey, told reporters.

Switzerland's financial regulator has investigated 12 banks and launched enforcement proceedings against two of them in relation to corruption charges against longtime central banker Riad Salameh, it said on Monday, Reuters reported. Lebanese authorities charged Salameh, his brother Raja and one of his assistants on Thursday with money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment after months of delay in the high-profile case. The Salameh brothers have denied wrongdoing throughout the process.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to shake up the leadership of the country’s financial system, installing key associates to run the central bank and reviving a Communist Party body to tighten political control over financial affairs, the Wall Street Journal reported. The moves are a continuation of efforts by Mr. Xi to reshape the world’s second-largest economy. In recent years, the central bank and other financial regulators have continued to lose their already fading independent status amid Mr. Xi’s broader effort to strengthen the party’s rule.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal or NCLAT on Friday stayed insolvency proceedings against Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), the Economic Times of India reported. Admitting a plea by ZEEL Managing Director and chief executive Punit Goenka, a two-member NCLAT bench stayed the order passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). On Wednesday, NCLT had admitted a insolvency plea against ZEEL by private sector lender IndusInd Bank and also appointed Sanjeev Kumar Jalan as the resolution professional in the matter.

South Africa and Nigeria have been placed on a global financial watchdog’s so-called gray list denoting nations with shortcomings in tackling illicit financial flows, a move that scars their international reputations and may raise costs for banks and asset managers, Bloomberg News reported. The decisions were announced by the Financial Action Task Force on Friday. While South Africa’s inclusion on the list was widely flagged as a risk, the possible addition of Nigeria attracted little attention. Morocco and Cambodia were taken off the list after improving their controls.

The World Bank on Friday announced $2.5 billion in additional grant financing from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID )to support Ukraine's budget and maintain essential services, Reuters reported. The latest financing under the World Bank's Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine(PEACE) project lifts the total to $20.6 billion and will support salaries in core government functions and sectors such as healthcare and education while allowing Kyiv to pay pensions and support internally displaced people.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen are set to hold face-to-face talks, with expectations high they will seal a deal to resolve a thorny post-Brexit trade dispute, the Associated Press reported. That would mark a breakthrough after months of bitter wrangling that has soured U.K.-EU relations, sparked the collapse of the Belfast-based regional government and and threatened to set back Northern Ireland's decades-old peace process. In a joint statement on Sunday the U.K.