Headlines

European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said it’s sensible to assume negative interest rates will be gone by the end of the third quarter, and said the prospect of more aggressive hikes will depend on the economic outlook, Bloomberg News reported. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, he endorsed President Christine Lagarde’s monetary policy roadmap signaling two quarter-point increases. When asked if there could be a case for bigger moves as sought by some officials, he said that such a decision would hang on the data and forecasts available at the time.

Lebanon’s currency hit a new low Tuesday as deep divisions within the newly elected parliament raised concerns that political paralysis could further exacerbate one of the worst economic meltdowns in history, the Associated Press reported. The legislature elected May 15 showed no clear majority for any group and a fragmented and polarized parliament divided between pro- and anti-Hezbollah lawmakers. The sides will likely find it difficult to work together to form a new government and enact desperately needed reforms. Among those elected to the 128-member parliament were 13 independents.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday acknowledged for the first time that a global digital tax deal may take a year longer to implement, Reuters reported. The deal, which the OECD had hoped to sign off on in the middle of this year, would give other countries a bigger share of the tax take on the earnings of big U.S. digital groups such as Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google. It is the first of two pillars of the biggest overhaul of cross-border tax rules in a generation. Both pillars were originally intended to be implemented in 2023.

Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will double up as finance minister leading bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. Wickremesinghe, who was appointed this month following violent unrest, was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Minister of Finance and Economic Stabilization and National Policies, according to a statement from the presidential media unit.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday said the global economy faces “perhaps its biggest test” since World War II in remarks ahead of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, The Hill reported. “As policymakers and business leaders head to Davos, the global economy faces perhaps its biggest test since the Second World War,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

Countries around the world have enacted a wave of export curbs on food since the start of the Ukraine war, a trend that economists say risks aggravating shortages and global food-price inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported. On nearly every continent, nations have put new restrictions and bans on products ranging from wheat, corn and edible oils to beans, lentils and sugar. Lebanon has even banned the export of ice cream and beer.

Bankruptcies are on the rise in Canada as government supports end and businesses grapple with a challenging post-pandemic recovery featuring soaring costs, supply chain issues and a labour shortage, YahooFinance.com reported. The number of businesses that filed for insolvency in the first quarter of the year jumped 33.8 per cent compared to 2021, according to statistics released by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. A total of 807 businesses filed for bankruptcy in the quarter, up 10.1 per cent from the previous three months.

The president of the European Central Bank on Monday gave the clearest sign yet that policymakers will aim to raise interest rates as soon as July to ease surging inflation, the Associated Press reported. In a blog post on the Frankfurt, Germany-based bank’s website, President Christine Lagarde said she expects asset purchases that buoy the economy would end “very early in the third quarter.” “This would allow us a rate lift-off at our meeting in July, in line with our forward guidance,” she wrote.

Italy expects to attract at least two rival bids for ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, before the deadline for its part privatisation expires at midnight on Monday, Reuters reported. Shipping group MSC, which is working with Germany's Lufthansa, is seen as the leading candidate, but a consortium comprising U.S. private equity fund Certares, Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines Inc is also expected to make a competitive offer.

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. must pay its former business partner SL Green Realty Corp. about $185 million in a dispute over a bankrupt Manhattan skyscraper, an arbitrator said, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The arbitrator, former judge L. Priscilla Hall, found that real-estate investment trust SL Green was entitled to a $184.6 million payment over an investment that it made in HNA Group’s 245 Park Ave., according to documents made public in a New York state court on Friday. SL Green should also be reimbursed for $856,000 in fees, she said.