Headlines

Sri Lanka's authorities continue to exchange information with bilateral creditors but a formal committee to restructure the country's foreign debt is not yet in place, a source close to the Finance Ministry told Reuters. The island nation held a third round of talks with representatives from creditor countries such as China, Japan and India on Dec. 15 as it aims to restructure its debt amid the worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Ghana was cut to default by S&P Global Ratings after the government suspended debt payments, a move that complicates the planned debt restructuring meant to unlock a bailout by the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The West African nation, which has $13 billion of foreign bonds, was downgraded to selective default from CC due to the moratorium on debt payments, the credit assessor said in a Tuesday statement.

A Sault-area aerospace firm hopes to emerge from insolvency under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act through the sale of the company by April, CTVNorthernOntario.ca reported. Springer, an aircraft maintenance company in Echo Bay, has been open since 1972 and employs 100 people. It occupies about 210 acres and includes three hangers and an airport that includes a main runway that is large enough to accommodate Boeing 737s for landing and takeoff, according to court documents filed under the CCAA process. Like a lot of businesses, it was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada’s inflation rate decelerated in November, but key gauges of underlying price pressures trended higher, increasing the likelihood of the central bank raising interest rates again, Bloomberg News reported. The consumer price index rose 6.8% from a year ago, higher than economist expectations of 6.7% and down from 6.9% in October, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in Ottawa. On a monthly basis, the index gained 0.1% in November, exceeding forecasts for no change.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia could achieve the goals of what he calls Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine without damaging the economy by militarising it, Reuters reported. Speaking at an end-of-year conference of Russia's top military brass, Putin said Russia would improve its military forces steadily and calmly without undermining the quality of social services for the Russian people. Read more.

The Bank of Japan said Tuesday that it would tweak its bond buying policies and step up asset purchases — a surprise move as Japan faces economic pressure from rising inflation and a weak yen, the New York Times reported. The change was seen as a sign that Japan might relax its adherence to ultralow interest rates. That commitment has made the country a global outlier as other central banks around the world have pushed up their rates in an effort to battle inflation.

The World Bank on Tuesday said it had approved an additional financing package totaling $610 million to address urgent relief and recovery needs in Ukraine as the war with Russia continues, Reuters reported. The package includes an additional $500 million loan from the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) that is supported by a guarantee from Britain, and a new project to restore and improve access to health care and address war-related needs for health services, the global lender said.

A bankruptcy court has admitted the listed MT Educare, formerly known as Mahesh Tutorials, into the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) and appointed Ashwin Bhavanji Shah as the interim resolution professional for the Mumbai-based coaching firm, the Economic Times of India reported. The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) allowed the company’s operational creditor Connect Residuary to initiate the insolvency proceedings.

Europe’s move to cap natural gas prices threatens to curb supply to the region and intensify its energy crisis, Bloomberg News reported. European nations this week reached a deal to put a ceiling on gas prices, ending months of political wrangling over whether to intervene in its energy sector. But while the mechanism may help prevent extreme price swings, it may leave the region vulnerable to insufficient supplies and stronger competition from Asia.

Thurrock council has become the latest local authority to formally declare effective bankruptcy, as it grapples with a £500m deficit caused by a series of disastrous investments in risky commercial projects, the Guardian reported. The Conservative-run council in Essex admitted three weeks ago that it faces big cuts and job losses after revealing it had lost £275m on investments it made in solar energy and other businesses, and has set aside a further £130m this year to pay back investment debts.