Headlines

Inflation is too high in Canada, so the Bank of Canada needs to increase interest rates to slow spending and give the economy time to catch up, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Monday in a video posted by the central bank on Twitter, Reuters reported. "Inflation is too high," Macklem said in a video tagged #AskTheBoC, echoing remarks made earlier this month after the central bank hiked its policy rate by 75-basis points to 3.25%.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena faces a tight schedule to secure cornerstone shareholders for a share sale of up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.4 billion) after an election pause during which investors were non-committal ended on Monday, Reuters reported. After leading the conservative alliance to victory in Sunday's vote, Giorgia Meloni looks set to become Italy's first woman prime minister at the head of its most right-wing government since World War Two. Maurizio Leo, a senior economic adviser to the Brothers of Italy leader Meloni, said MPS was in good hands.

Bucharest Airports Company (CNAB), the company operating Romania's largest airport Henri Coanda, said it is considering the option of suspending the provision of services to national flag carrier Tarom and taking legal steps, including, if necessary, an insolvency request, Romania-Insider.com reported. Tarom claims there is no risk of disrupting the company's operations at Henri Coanda Airport, according to News.ro.

Queensland-based cryptocurrency, digital asset exchange and brokerage Mine Digital has collapsed and control handed to external administrators, amid a dispute where it is being sued for allegedly not doing enough to weed out scammers from its platform, the Australian Financial Review reported. On Friday, PKF business recovery and insolvency partner Brad Tonks was appointed administrator of ACCE Australia Pty Ltd, the registered company which trades as Mine Digital. The circumstances behind Mr Tonks’ appointment are unclear.

There is a movement of home buyers around China who have moved into what they call "rotting" apartments, either to pressure developers and authorities to complete them or out of financial necessity, as numerous cash-strapped builders halt construction amid the country's deep real estate slump, Reuters reported. Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute estimated in July that stalled projects accounted for 3.85% of China's housing market in the first half of 2022, equivalent to an area of 231 million square metres.

Trafigura Group’s head of power trading in Asia has left the commodities giant, Bloomberg News reported. Ben Ernst, who managed a team of traders out of Trafigura’s Singapore office, left after almost two years in the role, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. He had previously spent 13 years at ERM Power, now Shell Energy Australia. Trafigura’s Asia power book is said to have struggled in turbulent conditions, according to the people.

PT Garuda Indonesia on Friday filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York court, as the debt-laden carrier tries to secure its future profitability, Bloomberg News reported. The submission comes as the airline, having completed a court-supervised debt restructuring in Indonesia to halve reduce its debt load, tries to capitalize on the rebound in international travel. Garuda’s total debt now amounts to roughly $5.1 billion, President Director Irfan Setiaputra told parliament in Jakarta on Monday.

Germany is drawing up plans to cap the price of electricity and gas that could be rolled out in the coming weeks, according to government officials, the Wall Street Journal reported. The caps would be aimed at shielding consumers and businesses from further increases in energy prices triggered by the economic war between Russia and the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. German officials said Berlin would move ahead with an electricity-price cap if the European Union failed to agree on such a mechanism for the entire bloc.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Monday that the BoE "will not hesitate" to raise interest rates if needed to meet its 2% inflation target, and that it was watching financial markets "very closely" following sharp moves in asset prices, Reuters reported. Sterling fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar earlier on Monday in Asian trading, extending losses that had accelerated on Friday after finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng gave his first fiscal statement, promising big tax cuts.

Europe’s industrial giants have fretted for months that gas shortages this winter will cripple production. But even with fuel available, companies are discovering they can’t afford it, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s not about shutdowns. It’s pricing, it’s cost,” said Christian Levin, chief executive officer of Traton SE, the truckmaking unit of Volkswagen AG. Europe is paying seven times as much for gas as the US, underscoring a dramatic erosion of the continent’s industrial competitiveness that threatens to cause lasting damage to its economy.