Headlines

Mexican annual inflation eased slightly in the first half of May compared to the previous two-week period, but inflationary pressures remained well above the central bank's target, official data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Headline inflation dipped to 7.58% in early May from 7.65% during the last two weeks of April, the latest figures published by national statistics agency INEGI showed. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a rate of 7.60%. Compared with the previous two-week period, consumer prices fell 0.06% during the first half of May, INEGI said.

Brazilian consumer prices rose more than expected in the month to mid-May, statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, marking the sharpest jump for the period in six years as the country grapples with galloping inflation, Reuters reported. The IPCA-15 consumer price index rose 0.59% in the month, according to IBGE. That was down from 1.73% in the previous month as the central bank has raised interest rates aggressively, but still above expectations of a 0.45% rise, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll. Inflation in the 12 months to mid-May hit 12.20%, up from 12.03% in mid-April.

A large creditor of failed Wellington construction company Armstrong Downes Commercial is trying to replace the liquidators with someone with “some teeth” to ensure subcontractors get paid, Stuff.nz reported. Armstrong Downes (ADC) shareholders had appointed David Ruscoe​​ and Russell Moore​​ from Grant Thornton as liquidators. However, Lower Hutt developer Kevin Melville, whose High St Holdings 2020 Ltd was a client, said he wanted to replace them with Damien Grant of Waterstone Insolvency as the new liquidator. ADC had two directors, Doile​ and Taylor​.

A senior official in Argentina charged with leading government efforts to tame sky-high inflation resigned on Monday due to differences over how to contain steadily creeping prices, which have hobbled the country's economy, Reuters reported. Annual inflation in the South American nation reached 58% in April, as many food and energy prices surged in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with some analysts predicting consumer prices will jump 70% later this year.

South Korea's central bank is likely to hike its benchmark rate at a second consecutive meeting on Thursday to combat inflation running at more than double its target, taking rates higher by year end than previously thought, a Reuters poll showed. Inflation in Asia's fourth-largest economy rose to more than a 13-year high of 4.8% in April, as repercussions from the Russia-Ukraine war and a weakening won , down 7% this year, ramped up prices. Inflation has stayed above the central bank's target of 2.0% for more than a year.

The Turkish lira plunged the most since a rout late last year, as a steep drawdown in the central bank’s reserves and its unorthodox monetary policy left the currency increasingly exposed amid a standoff with the country’s NATO allies, Bloomberg News reported. Already the worst performer in emerging markets this year, the lira on Tuesday is on track for the world’s biggest decline against the dollar, slipping as much as 1.5% to the weakest level in five months. Little relief is in sight, especially as energy costs spiral higher for Turkey.

Strict limits on public borrowing and spending will be suspended for another year, the European Union said on Monday, in order to help member nations deal with the economic fallout of the war in Ukraine, the New York Times reported. The stringent fiscal rules were temporarily relaxed in March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing for generous state aid to struggling businesses and citizens. They were due to be reinstated at the start of next year.

Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia will call on Tuesday for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen by the European Union to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine after Russia's invasion, a joint letter by the four showed on Monday, Reuters reported. On May 3, Ukraine estimated the amount of money needed to rebuild the country from the destruction wrought by Russia at around $600 billion. But with the war still in full swing, the sum is likely to have risen sharply, the letter said.

Slowing economic growth in China and anaemic demand for loans have sparked heavy buying of low-risk short-term financial instruments by lenders, pushing yields near zero, as banks seek to meet internal lending targets, Reuters reported. Strong demand for banker's acceptance bills - debt instruments guaranteed by banks - has pushed yields on one-month bills to an average of less than 1% and as low as 0.04% since the beginning of Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown in late March, according to data from the Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange.

The Indian government is considering spending an additional 2 trillion rupees ($26 billion) in the 2022/23 fiscal year to cushion consumers from rising prices and fight multi-year high inflation, two government officials told Reuters. The new measures will be double the 1 trillion rupees hit government revenues could take from tax cuts on petrol and diesel the finance minister announced on Saturday, both the officials said.