Headlines

Ukraine will need an additional $17 billion in financing this year for energy repairs, de-mining and to rebuild infrastructure, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday, Reuters reported. He told a government meeting that five high-voltage substations in the central, southern and south-west regions were hit during Russia's air attacks on Thursday. The energy sector has been severely damaged following four months of Russian missile and drones attacks.

Chile's central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate at 11.25% on Thursday, as expected, in a unanimous decision by its governing board, with the bank saying inflation remains high and related risks persist, Reuters reported. The central bank embarked on an aggressive monetary policy tightening cycle in July 2021 to reign in spiraling inflation and has increased the rate by a 1,075 basis points since then to its current level. The rate has remained at 11.25% since October.

Brazil's outstanding public debt is expected to increase this year up to 14%, the Treasury said on Thursday, and it stressed that commitment to the public accounts balance will be essential to lengthen the country's debt profile, Reuters reported. In its Annual Financing Plan, the Treasury set the 2023 public debt target at a range between 6.4 trillion reais and 6.8 trillion reais, up from last year's 5.951 trillion reais ($1.2 trillion).

Hungary's January annual inflation is expected to rise above 25% but in February price growth will start slowing which could then allow the central bank to gradually start reducing its interest rates, the minister for economic development said on Sunday, Reuters reported. Marton Nagy, a former central bank deputy governor, told state radio that the "very high" interest rates made the government's job difficult and harmed the economy. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government is trying to avoid economic recession at a time when inflation is still running well above 20%.

Britain’s Treasury chief said Friday that taming inflation is more important than cutting taxes, resisting calls from some in the governing Conservative Party for immediate tax breaks for businesses and voters, the Associated Press reported. At a speech in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said “the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation.” The U.K.’s annual inflation rate hit a four-decade high of 11.1% in October, fueling a cost-of-living crisis and a wave of strikes by workers seeking pay raises to keep pace with rising food and energy prices.

More than 30,000 British companies went bust last year, with accountants warning of a “double whammy” to come in April that could trigger another wave of insolvencies, Bloomberg News reported. Big businesses were the worst hit, according to a report published Thursday by accountancy giant PwC. Insolvency activity among firms with revenues exceeding £1 million ($1.24 million) rose by more than 20%. Across all companies, the number of insolvencies climbed from 28,279 in 2021 to 31,606 last year, a jump of nearly 12%.

Italy is close to clinching a deal with European Union competition authorities to reintroduce a scheme under which the state provides guarantees to help banks offload bad loans, Reuters reported. Rome has been working to renew the "GACS" scheme, which expired in June, while also tightening the terms under which the state provides guarantees to investors who buy bad bank loans repackaged as securities. Discussions with Brussels are at a very advanced stage and the terms have been for the most part agreed, the four sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Brazilian shopping chain Americanas SA yesterday filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy, a move that protects its U.S. assets while insolvency proceedings play out in its home country, Bloomberg News reported. The retailer nosedived in January after becoming mired in an accounting scandal. The firm, backed by billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann, filed for bankruptcy at a court in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 19. In disclosures to investors, the firm implied it misreported numbers connected to some of its financing and wrongly deducted interest paid to lenders from its liabilities.

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka’s Central Bank chief said Wednesday that the country is making good progress in talks with its creditors to obtain financial assurances for debt restructuring, an important step toward finalizing an International Monetary Fund rescue plan, the Associated Press reported. Sri Lanka is bankrupt and has suspended repayment of its $51 billion foreign debt, of which $28 billion must be repaid by 2027. It has reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a $2.9 billion rescue package over four years.

Argentina’s plan to repurchase $1 billion of overseas bonds meets the definition for a default, according to Moody’s Investors Service, Bloomberg News reported. The credit assessor sees the nation’s strategy of buying back short-dated dollar bonds — primarily those due in 2029 and 2030 — through direct market purchases as tantamount to a “distressed exchange and hence a default under our definition,” Moody’s analysts including Jaime Reusche wrote in a note. Moody’s still scores Argentina at Ca, the second-lowest rating. It has a stable outlook on the nation.