Headlines

Defaults among emerging market companies continued to pile up in the third quarter due to troubles in Russia as well as China's property sector, with the volume of bonds trading at distressed levels close to record highs, JPMorgan said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The year-to-date default rate for emerging market high-yield firms reached 10.3%, the bank found in its latest default monitor. This was driven by Russian defaults lifting the rate in emerging Europe to 21.7%, while China's property sector woes saw the default rate across Asia run to 12.8%.

Rising debt levels and mounting fiscal pressures underscore the urgency for more "orderly debt restructuring" efforts to put low-income countries on a more sustainable path, the International Monetary Fund's fiscal chief said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Fiscal Affairs Director Vitor Gaspar told reporters the problems facing low-income countries had been exacerbated by food and energy shocks and climate disasters, and it was critical to frame policies that would avert social unrest.

Germany and the Netherlands have proposed a package of 10 measures that the European Union could use to curb gas prices and avoid fuel rationing, including looking into setting a new benchmark price for liquefied natural gas. The plan, seen by Reuters and shared with other EU countries before the bloc's energy ministers meet on Wednesday, calls for the EU to kickstart joint gas buying, to avoid one country outbidding another and driving prices higher.

In a major reform in the insolvency process, the RBI has allowed asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) with Rs 1,000-crore net worth to bid for taking over a business undergoing insolvency, the Times of India reported. The RBI has also mandated new rules aimed at improving the governance and financial health of ARCs, which are companies that extract value from bad loans. Going by public disclosures, there are currently three ARCs with paid-up capital of over Rs 1,000 crore - Edelweiss, JM and ARCIL.

Indonesian furniture retailer Fabelio has declared bankruptcy, announcing the move through local media. This comes after a Jakarta commercial court reached a verdict on October 5, TechinAsia.com reported. “I declare the debtor [Fabelio] in a state of bankruptcy with all the legal consequences,” Gde Braga Abi Tamara, the startup’s legal curator, told Bisnis Indonesia. On behalf of Fabelio, the curator will handle all of the company’s confiscated assets and then sell them to pay off debts.

Argentina's inflation rate likely eased slightly in September to 6.7%, a Reuters poll of analysts showed, but remained stubbornly high overall, supporting forecasts that it could top 100% this year, the highest annual level since the early 1990s, Reuters reported. That monthly rate would be lower that a 7% price rise in August and a July peak of 7.4%. The South American country has been battling to bring down one of the world's highest inflation rates. The projections were made by 16 analysts surveyed by Reuters, with estimates ranging between 6.5% and 7%.

The Bank of England extended support targeted at pension funds for the second day in a row, the latest attempt to contain the fallout of a furious bond-market selloff that has threatened U.K. financial stability, the Wall Street Journal reported. The central bank on Tuesday said that it would add inflation-linked government bonds to its program of bond purchases after a fresh attempt on Monday to help pension funds failed to calm markets. The bank said it would buy up to £5 billion of index-linked gilts each day through Friday, equivalent to $5.5 billion.

New bank lending in China nearly doubled in September from the previous month and far exceeded expectations after the central bank acted to spur an economy weakened by a property crisis and a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Reuters reported. Chinese banks extended 2.47 trillion yuan ($344.58 billion) in new yuan loans in September, jumping from 1.25 trillion yuan in August, data released by the People's Bank of China showed on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would rise to 1.80 trillion yuan in September.

Two of New Zealand's largest ski areas on Tuesday were placed into a type of bankruptcy proceeding following a disastrous winter season with barely any snow, the Associated Press reported. The Tūroa and Whakapapa ski areas, which are both owned by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, entered what is called voluntary administration. The proceeding is open to failing New Zealand businesses and has some similarities to chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures in the U.S.

Dutch greenhouses are cutting output of food and flowers and almost a 10th expect to be forced into bankruptcy soon by Europe’s energy crisis, an industry group survey showed, Bloomberg News reported. The recent survey by Glastuinbouw Nederland is one of the latest signs of how the region’s energy crunch is making it more expensive to produce goods and commodities. A quarter of the Netherlands’ cultivation area has been cut and 8% of greenhouse businesses predict filing for bankruptcy this year.