Headlines

An Indian-origin soft drinks businessman from central England has been banned from holding a company directorship for nine years after admitting inflating figures to acquire a loan under a Covid-19 pandemic support scheme, the Hindustan Times reported. Inderjit Singh Dadial, whose ban comes into effect from this week, was the sole director of Cali Juices Limited, a wholesaler of specialised soft drinks incorporated in 2019 with a registered address in Wolverhampton.

An economic crisis is disrupting life across Sri Lanka, an island nation off India’s southern coast that only recently had been outperforming its neighbors, the New York Times reported. In less than a decade, Sri Lanka recovered from the ravages of a civil war that ended in 2009, soaring to the status of an upper-middle-income nation. It built a tourism-based economy that brought billions of dollars, many jobs and middle class comforts: high-end eateries and cafes, imported Jeeps and Audis, and upscale malls. Now, Sri Lankans just want the lights to stay on.

Chinese stocks fell as a lockdown in Shanghai to combat a virus flareup raised worries over disruptions to business operations and the toll on economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. The CSI 300 Index declined by as much as 2% early Monday before trimming losses, as the city said it will lock down in two phases to conduct a mass testing blitz. Consumer stocks led losses across China and Hong Kong markets, with baijiu maker Kweichow Moutai Co and sportswear makers Li Ning Co. and Anta Sports Products Ltd. weighing heavily on benchmark gauges.

The European Commission will look into the question of energy price caps after an extensive debate on the topic pushed by Spain at the EU summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, Reuters reported. Germany and many other countries are sceptical about market interventions against high energy prices, he told a news conference at the end of the two day EU summit. Earlier, a European Union source said Germany and the Netherlands had opposed the southern countries in a "tough" debate on the issue of price caps.

Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Friday that the federal government plans to create a poverty eradication fund that would be fed from the sale of public assets, Reuters reported. Speaking at a presidential event, he mentioned plans of creating "Fundo Brasil," comprising 1 trillion reais ($210.51 billion) in real state assets and 1 trillion reais in shares of state-owned companies.

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund will start talks in Lebanon on March 29, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday, expressing hope of a deal in the coming weeks, Reuters reported. "Next Tuesday they will start their mission in Lebanon," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar. "Hopefully ... by the end of two weeks we will see the light," Mikati said. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value since 2019, when the financial system collapsed, plunging the majority of Lebanese into poverty, according to UN agencies.

CIFI Holdings Group Co. shares plunged 8.8% as 2021 profit dropped and the builder’s gross margin missed analysts’ estimates, Bloomberg News reported. Other developers including China Evergrande Group have already warned they will probably miss deadlines this month for reporting audited results. S&P Global Ratings withdrew its long-term issuer credit score on Sunac China Holdings Ltd. at the company’s request, while Fitch also downgraded the builder.

After losing two years to the COVID-19 pandemic, shopkeepers in the heart of the Turkish Riviera had hoped for a strong tourism season this year to help keep their businesses afloat. But Russia’s war in Ukraine is fast dampening their spirits, the Associated Press reported. “We’re trying to earn our bread through tourism, but it looks like the war has finished off this (tourism) season, too,” Devrim Akcay said outside his clothing shop in the resort town of Belek, along the Mediterranean coast’s Antalya province.

The European Union’s budget chief pushed back against the idea of raising new joint debt to weather the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine and to finance the bloc’s defense and energy priorities, Bloomberg News reported. Instead, Johannes Hahn urged member states to use more than 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) of EU funds available to cope with the current crisis. “Honestly, there is money and there is still flexibility to discuss the use of funds,” the budget commissioner said in an interview.

Across Europe, governments are slashing fuel taxes and doling out tens of billions to help consumers, truckers, farmers and others cope with spiking energy prices made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But it’s not enough for some whose livelihoods hinge on fuel, the Associated Press reported. Miguel Ángel Rodriguez was one of 200 concrete truck drivers who held a slow-driving protest around Madrid this week. He said filling up used to cost 1,600 euros ($1,760) a month, but he’s been forking out an extra 500 euros since the start of the year because of the rising price of diesel.