Headlines

Japanese policymakers made fresh threats of intervention on Thursday after the yen tumbled past the key psychological level of 150 to the dollar, keeping investors on high alert in case Tokyo steps into markets again to support the fragile currency, Reuters reported.

Customers of German cryptocurrency bank Nuri (formerly known as Bitwala) are being urged to withdraw their money before December 18 in order for the “company to be terminated and liquidated,” BollyInside.com reported. Due to the lengthy crypto bear market and macroeconomic factors, Nuri filed for insolvency in August. Trading will be available through November’s end. “Over the past three months, we have worked closely with our insolvency administrators on a restructuring plan during the preliminary insolvency proceedings and have looked for a possible acquisition to carry on our story.

The National Bank of Ukraine kept its key rate unchanged at 25% on Thursday, a level it said was forecast to be maintained until the second quarter of 2024 as it grapples with high inflation fuelled by Russia's invasion, Reuters reported. The central bank, led by new Governor Andriy Pyshnyi, said it expected a 32% GDP contraction in 2022, a slight improvement on its earlier forecast, and that the economy was "livening up" after falling sharply when the war began eight months ago.

Turkey's central bank slashed its policy rate by a more than expected 150 basis points to 10.5% on Thursday, and promised to halt the easing cycle urged by President Tayyip Erdogan after another similarly-hefty cut next month, Reuters reported. The move pushed the lira to a record low and sets up a likely rate cut to 9% next month. It comes after Erdogan repeatedly advocated for the unorthodox easing cycle and specifically called for single-digit rates by year-end.

Mexico's economy likely stagnated in September after two months of expansion, according to a preliminary estimate provided by the national statistics agency on Thursday, Reuters reported. The Economic Activity Indicator (IOAE) did not register any variation compared to the previous month. For Mexico's secondary sector, which includes manufacturing activities, no monthly variation is expected in September either, while for the tertiary sector, covering services, a 0.1% contraction is anticipated, according to the report.

Credit Suisse is racing to firm up sales of part of its business that could limit the cash it needs from investors, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, with just days to go before the bank unveils an overhaul, Reuters reported. The embattled Swiss lender wants to draw a line under a string of scandals and legal actions in a shake-up that would likely see it pare back a volatile investment bank in London and New York to focus on banking for the rich in Switzerland.

European Union officials are seeking the power to impose an emergency cap on the price of natural gas on the bloc’s main trading exchange, part of a package of proposals to cushion consumers from high prices and fill storage tanks next year ahead of winter, the Wall Street Journal reported. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, on Tuesday published proposals that include steps to encourage companies to pool their demand and buy gas together and rules for how gas could be shared across borders if some countries run short.

The UK Treasury is set to transfer more than £11 billion ($12.4 billion) to the Bank of England this fiscal year to cover projected losses in its bond-buying program, Bloomberg News reported. The capital transfer was detailed in an update to the “Central Government Supply Estimates” published on Tuesday by the Treasury. The new £11.175 billion injection is listed under “assistance to financial institutions - payment to the Bank of England.” Parliament is set to debate the contents of the statement on Monday. The BOE is to begin unwinding its quantitative easing program next month.

British food prices rose at the fastest pace since 1980 last month, driving inflation back to a 40-year high and heaping pressure on the embattled government to balance the books without gutting help for the nation’s poorest residents, the Associated Press reported. Food prices jumped 14.6% in the year through September, led by the soaring cost of staples such as meat, bread, milk and eggs, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. That pushed consumer price inflation back to 10.1%, the highest since early 1982 and equal to the level last reached in July.

A surge in bad loans awaits UK banks as higher interest rates saddle homeowners with an estimated £52 billion ($58.6 billion) of added mortgage payments over the next three years, an analyst warned as he downgraded his ratings on several lenders, Reuters reported. The jump in costs will help push the personal debt service burden toward about 10% of post-tax income and further into the “dangerous territory” traditionally associated with large increases in impairments, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Ed Firth wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.