Headlines

The Bank of Japan may abandon its 10-year bond yield cap as early as next year on growing prospects that inflation and wages will overshoot expectations, said Takeo Hoshi, an academic with close ties to incumbent central bank policymakers, Reuters reported. The BOJ must maintain an ultraloose policy for the time being to convince the public that it is serious about reflating the economy long enough to generate sustained inflation, said Hoshi, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo.

Canada’s banking regulator said the country’s mortgage stress test has helped prevent widespread defaults as interest rates rose this year, rebuffing calls to weaken or eliminate the measure amid a surge in homebuying costs, Bloomberg News reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions requires banks to ensure that borrowers can still qualify for their mortgages at a rate two percentage points higher than what the lender is offering, or 5.25% — whichever rate is higher at the time.

Amber Group, one of Asia’s leading crypto trading and lending platforms, is cutting jobs, scrapping retail operations and terminating a sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC in the latest retrenchment to hit the digital-asset sector, Bloomberg News reported. The decisions are part of a major cost-cutting strategy, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and others raised concerns about a worsening global outlook, while hopeful that China’s reopening will help support world growth, Bloomberg News reported. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said indicators show further downgrades to global growth are likely. Speaking on Friday after a meeting with China’s Premier Li Keqiang in Anhui province, Georgieva said China’s recalibration of its Covid policies would be a good thing for the domestic economy and the rest of the world.

Russia's current account surplus more than doubled year-on-year to $225.7 billion in January-November from $108.6 billion, the central bank said on Friday, giving much-needed fiscal wriggle room as the country's economy heads into 2023 on shaky ground, Reuters reported. This year, Russia is on track to post a record high current account surplus after its imports of goods and services fell due to Western sanctions while globally high commodity prices boosted its export revenues.

With Russian missiles pounding apartment buildings, power plants, schools and roads, a glimmering vision of a reconstructed postwar Ukraine seems impossibly far off. But an urgent battle of ideas has already begun over how to manage what would be the most extensive rebuilding project in Europe since the end of World War II, the New York Times reported.

The impact of the European Union’s sanctions on its own economy has so far been largely contained to a few specific sectors, according to an assessment prepared by the bloc’s executive arm, Bloomberg News reported. The restrictive measures have caused supply issues in sectors like wood and precious metals, but wider disruptions have mostly been because of global market trends, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Moscow’s own retaliatory steps.

Yes Bank has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Digital Ventures Pvt. Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of Zee Learn Ltd, LiveMint.com reported. The private lender has filed the petition under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which allows a financial creditor to file an application for initiating the process. The NCLT has issued a notice to Digital Ventures.

The price of Sushi, the native cryptocurrency of decentralized exchange SushiSwap, plunged on Wednesday after the platform’s chief executive warned the project could run out of funds within 18 months, Bloomberg News reported. SushiSwap’s treasury is “facing a significant deficit” which “threatens Sushi’s operational viability, requiring an immediate remedy,” its head chef — or CEO — Jared Grey said in a proposal for changes updated on Tuesday. SushiSwap, which makes money by charging fees on transactions, has suffered from a protracted slump in cryptocurrency prices and trading.

Canada's biggest pension fund, CPP Investments, has ended its effort to study investment opportunities in the volatile crypto market, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The reasons behind CPPI's abandonment of crypto research were not immediately clear. CPPI declined to comment but said it has made no direct investments in crypto. It referred to previous comments on cryptocurrency by its CEO, John Graham, in which he sounded a note of caution.