Headlines

New restructuring commitments agreed by Italy and the European Union over state-owned bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) include disposals worth up to 400 million euros ($391 million), a document showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The text of the EU Commission's decision that extended an end-2021 deadline for Rome to sell its stake in the Tuscan bank also showed Italy had committed to keeping the management of its holdings in various state-owned banks separate.

Chinese refiners are likely to boost refined oil products exports in the last two months of 2022 and into early 2023 after receiving the biggest allocation from Beijing this year, trade sources and analysts said on Monday, Reuters reported. The increase in Chinese exports is likely to help stabilise global oil markets and partly replace supplies from Russia which will be hit by European Union embargoes in coming months. It also allows the world's No.

Buy now, pay later services have picked up pace in Southeast Asia as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported. Grab Holdings Ltd., Sea Ltd. and GoTo Group are all offering their customers short-term loans to help them pay for a variety of products and services, including taxis, food delivery and beauty products. The most recent rollout of services in the region came in July, when GoTo launched a pay-later service called GoPayLater Cicil—which means “taking installments” in Indonesian.

Canadian manufacturing activity contracted for a second straight month in September as higher borrowing costs and an uncertain economic outlook contributed to a drop in new orders, but the pace of decline lessened, data showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 49.8 in September after falling to 48.7 in August, its lowest level since June 2020. A reading below 50 shows contraction in the sector.

Mexican officials on Monday announced the details of a new deal with companies to halt rising food prices, doubling down on a collaborative effort with the private sector as inflation hovers at a 22-year high, Reuters reported. More than a dozen foodmakers and retailers are part of the plan, which will waive certain regulatory requirements, Mexican Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O said.

The South African branch of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm, was charged in a corruption scandal involving work the company completed advising the country’s state-owned freight rail and port operator. It may be the first time in McKinsey’s 96-year history that the firm has faced criminal charges, the New York Times reported.

Struggling British fashion retailer Joules Group on Thursday said that its turnaround plan, focused on boosting profitability, was making good progress, weeks after Next Plc abandoned plans to inject funds into the company, Reuters reported. Joules, which sells clothing, footwear and accessories, has been wrestling with finances as consumers turn cautious about spending as surging inflation has fed a cost of living crisis. British inflation was 9.9% in August and expected to rise further, with the cost of living crunch squeezing households' disposable spending.

Japan spent a likely record daily amount to prop up the yen last week, leaving economists and investors wondering how many times the government could intervene again despite skepticism over the impact of such action, Bloomberg News reported. The Ministry of Finance disclosed Friday that it spent 2.84 trillion yen ($19.7 billion) in September to slow the yen’s slide in its first intervention to support the currency since 1998. Some private analysts had estimated the intervention at up to 3.6 trillion yen.

China’s central government offered a rare tax incentive for residential purchases, ramping up support for the country’s embattled real estate sector, Bloomberg News reported. Residents who buy new homes within one year after selling old homes will enjoy refunds for personal-income tax on the sale, according to a statement on the finance ministry website. The tax refunds will take effect from October till the end of 2023. The novel tax policy comes after a yearlong slump in the housing market.

Euro zone inflation zoomed past forecasts to hit 10.0% in September, a new record high that will reinforce expectations for another jumbo interest rate hike next month from the European Central Bank, Reuters reported. Price growth in the 19 countries sharing the euro accelerated from August's 9.1%, data from Eurostat showed on Friday, beating expectations for a reading of 9.7%, with some euro zone members experiencing the fastest price growth since the time of the Korean War 70 years ago.