Headlines

Inflation in Venezuela hit 234% in 2022, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Monday, representing a slowdown from the previous year, as the South American country struggles with a deep and lengthy economic crisis, Reuters reported. Rodriguez provided the inflation rate during a meeting with Turkish and Venezuelan business leaders. Venezuela's central bank infrequently publishes economic data, and has not given inflation data since October.

Mexico's headline inflation accelerated and exceeded expectations in early January, data from the national statistics agency showed on Tuesday, marking the first monthly pickup since September as markets brace for fresh interest rate hikes ahead, Reuters reported. Annual headline inflation in the first half of the month reached 7.94%, beating both the 7.77% recorded in the month of December and economists' forecasts of 7.86%, though still below the two-decade high of 8.70% registered in August and September.

Brazil's annual consumer prices came in slightly above market expectations in the month to mid-January, statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, as policymakers in Latin America's largest economy work to lower inflation to the central bank's target, Reuters reported. The IPCA-15 consumer price index rose 5.87% in the 12 months to mid-January, slightly exceeding the 5.83% median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, though slowing from the 5.9% seen in the previous month.

Nigeria's central bank on Tuesday raised its benchmark lending rate by 100 basis points to 17.5%, as monetary authorities seek to rein in inflation without choking off lending to the private sector, Reuters reported. Nigerians will head to the polls on Feb. 25 to choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari and the state of the economy is a major issue for voters grappling with double-digit inflation. The central bank's decision came after inflation dipped for the first time in 11 months in December to 21.34%, compared with 21.47% in November.

British private-sector economic activity fell at its fastest rate in two years in January, a survey showed on Tuesday, as businesses blamed higher Bank of England interest rates, strikes and weak consumer demand for the slowdown, Reuters reported. The S&P Global/CIPS flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 47.8 from 49.0 in December, at the bottom end of economists' forecasts in a Reuters poll and the lowest since January 2021. Readings below 50 indicate falling output. The fall contrasted with a slight rise in business activity in the euro zone.

Up to 100 Irish businesses are tipped for a new insolvency regime this year, according to Baker Tilly, the Independent reported. Demand for the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP) has accelerated so far this year, with six companies exiting the process in the past week alone. The process was introduced in December 2021 and provides a simplified restructuring mechanism for small companies facing financial distress. There are 23 now commenced,” Baker Tilly corporate restructuring director Dessie Morrow told the Irish Independent.

India’s bid to streamline bankruptcy proceedings includes provisions that could change the proportion of money creditors get from a firm’s liquidation, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. To speed up proceedings and counter a mounting caseload, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs last week published published dozens of proposed amendments to the insolvency code, giving the public until Feb. 7 to provide input. Any changes to the law would have to be voted on by parliament.

Japan's finances are becoming increasingly precarious, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki warned on Monday, just as markets test whether the central bank can keep interest rates ultra-low, allowing the government to service its debt, Reuters reported. The government has been helped by near-zero bond yields, but bond investors have recently sought to break the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) 0.5% cap on the 10-year bond yield, as inflation runs at 41-year highs, double the central bank's 2% target.

A voting member of the Bank of Israel’s monetary committee stepped down and warned that “democracy is in danger” in his country, marking one of the highest-profile departures since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his push to reform the judicial system, Bloomberg News reported. Moshe Hazan, an economics professor who spent more than five years on the rate-setting panel, sent Netanyahu a resignation letter late Sunday, saying he was leaving to become more involved in “public-political activity,” according to a statement from the central bank.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kazimir joined a chorus of fellow hawks in rejecting suggestions that moderating inflation will soon warrant smaller interest-rate increases, Bloomberg News reported. “We need to deliver two more 50 basis-point moves,” said Kazimir, who also heads Slovakia’s central bank and favors the monetary-tightening cycle being completed by the summer. “The fall in inflation for two months in a row is positive news.