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Rising prices, fallout from the war in Ukraine and continuing supply chain chokeholds slowed growth around the world in the first months of the year and hobbled efforts by major economies to recover from the pandemic, the New York Times reported. The latest evidence came on Friday, when the European Union said the 19 countries that use the euro grew only 0.2 percent overall during January, February and March compared with the previous three months. One day earlier, the United States announced that its economy had shrunk 0.4 percent over the same period.
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Companies reopening factories in locked-down Shanghai are booking hotel rooms to house workers and turning vacant workshops into on-site isolation facilities as authorities urge them to resume work while complying with tough COVID-19 curbs, Reuters reported. Hundreds of companies including multinationals Tesla and 3M have reopened factories in the Chinese economic hub under local guidelines requiring them to isolate workers inside a "closed-loop".
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China's three biggest airlines have reported heavy first-quarter losses as prolonged COVID curbs weighed on travel demand and a weakening Chinese currency and rising fuel prices inflated costs, trends which persist in the current quarter, Reuters reported. Analysts expect another year in the red for Chinese airlines as Beijing sticks with its zero-COVID policy to stop the spread of the virus. China Eastern Airlines on Friday reported a first-quarter net loss of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.18 billion) versus 3.8 billion a year earlier.
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The National Company Law Tribunal has directed to initiate insolvency proceedings against Andhra Cement, a company owned by debt-ridden Jaypee Group. The Hyderabad bench of the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) has also appointed Nirav K. Pujara as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) of the company, and declared a moratorium in respect of the company as per the provision of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The company has also shared the order passed by the insolvency tribunal on April 26, 2022, in this regard.
Grand Slam champion Boris Becker has been jailed for two and a half years after hiding assets and debts worth more than £2.5 million after being declared bankrupt, the Evening Standard reported. The three-time Wimbledon winner deliberately transferred money to family and associates when he ran aground financially in June 2017, successfully keeping £390,000 (€426,930) and the proceeds of a bank loan worth £1.1 million from his creditors.
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has asked airlines to cancel flights over the weekend to avoid chaos due to overcrowding at Europe's third busiest airport, it said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The airport said that it had taken the action due to staff shortages. An unannounced strike among baggage handlers aggravated major delays and cancellations at the airport on April 23.
The number of people going financially insolvent across England and Wales jumped to the highest level in more than three years in the first quarter of this year, the Independent reported. There were 32,305 personal insolvencies between January and March, according to the Insolvency Service, marking the highest total since the final quarter of 2018 when 33,768 cases were recorded. Personal insolvencies were up by 17% in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous three months.
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Britain has delayed imposing its full post-Brexit import controls on goods from the European Union until the end of next year, saying retailers were facing too many other cost pressures and it did not want to add more fuel to inflation, Reuters reported. Britain left the EU's single market in January 2021 and has delayed implementation of its full post-Brexit border controls on several occasions due to worries about port disruption and now the risk of adding to a cost-of-living crisis.
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The EMEA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee said on Thursday it met to prepare for holding an auction to settle credit default swaps in case Russia goes into default, Reuters reported. Russia made a payment due on April 4 on two sovereign bonds, but it was made in Russian roubles rather than the U.S. dollars it was mandated to under the bond terms. Earlier this month the Committee declared a "potential failure to pay" had occurred, dating it to April 4. A 30 calendar day grace period expires next week, after which Russia could be declared in default.
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China will cut import tariffs for all types of coal to zero from May 1, 2022, until March 31, 2023, the finance ministry said on Thursday, as Beijing strives to ensure energy security amid soaring global prices and supply disruption concerns, Reuters reported. Top Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, have repeatedly addressed the vital role of coal in China's energy mix despite climate pledges to gradually reduce coal use and to bring the country's carbon emissions to a peak by 2030.
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