Headlines

Canada posted a trade deficit of C$41 million ($30.20 million) in November as exports were dragged down by energy products, while pharmaceuticals and other consumer goods drove a decline in imports, Statistics Canada said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The deficit missed analysts' forecast of a C$610 million surplus in November. Statscan also revised October's surplus down to C$130 million from an initial C$1.21 billion. Inflation hit a four-decade high last year that prompted the Bank of Canada to raised rates at a record pace to tame prices.

The world’s pile of negative-yielding debt has vanished, as Japanese bonds finally joined global peers in offering zero or positive income, Bloomberg News reported. The global stock of bonds where investors received sub-zero yields peaked at $18.4 trillion in late 2020, according to Bloomberg’s Global Aggregate Index of the debt, when central banks worldwide were keeping rates at or below zero and buying bonds to ensure yields were repressed.

German exports unexpectedly fell in November as high inflation and market uncertainty continue to weigh on Europe's largest economy despite fading supply chain problems, Reuters reported. Exports fell by 0.3% on the month, data from the federal statistics office showed on Thursday. November's drop comes after October's figures were revised up, to growth of 0.8% from an initially reported 0.6% fall. Imports also posted a bigger-than-expected drop of 3.3% in November, compared with consensus for a 0.5% decline.

Germany supports the World Bank modifying its country-based business model and is in favour of the Bank setting incentives for issues like climate protection, the German Development Ministry said on Thursday, Reuters reported. On Monday, Reuters reported that the World Bank was seeking to vastly expand its lending capacity to address climate change and other global crises and will negotiate with shareholders ahead of April meetings on proposals that include a capital increase and new lending tools.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday the government would help Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) if needs be, when asked about the state oil company's ability to shoulder its debt obligations in 2023, Reuters reported. The president, a resource nationalist who has made reviving the cash-strapped Pemex a priority, has given tax breaks and capital injections to the firm as it battles to increase oil and gas output while laboring under a hefty debt load.

Sunac China Holdings Ltd. received bondholder approval for an extension on its domestic debt, according to people familiar with the matter, buying the developer more time to deal with its liquidity crunch amid improved policy support, Bloomberg News reported. The company’s Sunac Real Estate unit secured an agreement from debt holders to extend maturities on nine onshore notes and an asset-backed security worth about 16 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in total, the people said, requesting not to be identified because the matter is private.

People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday that a high amount of foreign currency it has bought recently was a result of commercial banks converting their foreign exchange holdings with the central bank into yuan reserves, Reuters reported. China's central bank bought a net 63.6 billion yuan ($9.24 billion) worth of foreign exchange in November，according to Reuters calculations based on PBOC data released earlier on Wednesday, marking the biggest net purchases since October 2014.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to reduce the national debt and cut inflation as he set out his priorities for the coming year against a backdrop of mounting strikes, a creaking National Health Service and dire poll ratings for his ruling Conservative Party, Bloomberg News reported. The economic goals were among five priorities outlined by the prime minister in his first set piece remarks of the year. He also outlined promises to grow the economy, tackle immigration and improve health care provision.

Poland left borrowing costs unchanged as the threat of an economic recession overshadows concerns over the highest inflation in more than a quarter century, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s key interest rate was left on hold at 6.75% for the fourth consecutive month. Central bank Governor Adam Glapinski calmed an increasingly public dispute within the rate-setting Monetary Policy Council late last year as his warnings over excessive tightening dovetailed with signs that risks from inflation were subsiding as the peak neared.