Headlines

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday the Bank of Mexico had voted to raise its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 6.5%, speaking before the latest decision has been made public by the central bank, Reuters reported. "The Bank of Mexico took the decision yesterday unanimously, and we respect the Bank of Mexico's autonomy," Lopez Obrador said, speaking at a regular government news conference. Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast that the bank would vote to raise its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 6.5% at its latest monetary policy decision.

The Egyptian pound slipped further against the dollar on Wednesday, after Egypt’s Central Bank raised its main interest rate and devalued the currency by 14%, the Associated Press reported. The moves by the Central Bank of Egypt were meant to combat inflationary waves triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which hiked oil prices to record highs. Banks were selling the U.S. currency at more than 18.5 pounds while buying it at over 18.45. By mid-day Wednesday, it was sold at 18.42 pounds and bought at 18.32.

When a Lebanese bank told Aref Yassin it had closed accounts worth $20 million belonging to the professional syndicate he heads and issued a cheque for the balance that was worth a fifth of its face value, he took the matter to court, Reuters reported. The money, saved from engineers' subscriptions and deposited at Fransabank, was earmarked for healthcare and pensions covered by the syndicate for about 100,000 people who now face losing a lifeline in a country in the third year of an economic meltdown.

El Salvador is seeking support from cryptocurrency exchange Binance for its implementation of bitcoin as legal tender and the issuance of bitcoin bonds, the Central American country's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao is visiting El Salvador and plans to meet President Nayib Bukele on Thursday, ambassador Milena Mayorga told reporters. Mayorga said Zhao's visit was a vote of confidence in Bukele's decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last September, as well as its plan to issue bitcoin-backed bonds.

Thailand has issued rules to ban digital assets from being used to pay for goods and services from April 1, the market regulator said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The move was in line with earlier discussions between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) on a need to regulate such activity by digital asset business operators as it could impact the country's financial stability and overall economy, the SEC said in a statement.

German retirees will get a hefty pension increase this year, a result largely of higher wages in Europe’s biggest economy as inflation has climbed sharply, the government said Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The Labor Ministry said pensions will increase by 5.35% in the former West Germany on July 1 and by 6.12% in the formerly communist east. There was no increase in the west last year and an increase of 0.72% in the east as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

China Evergrande Group said on Tuesday that it was working to raise fresh funds after it disclosed that banks had taken control of more than $2 billion held by one of its key subsidiaries, the Wall Street Journal reported. The surprise announcement comes two months after Evergrande first kicked off restructuring talks with creditors, who had previously threatened to sue the company for failing to disclose adequate information to them after the company defaulted on its offshore debts in December.

Russian steel giant Severstal was racing against the clock on Wednesday to avoid becoming the country's first major corporate default since the Ukraine crisis began, with international payment lines snarled by sanctions, Reuters reported. Severstal, whose main shareholder Alexey Mordashov is one of a number of wealthy Russians now sanctioned by the European Union, has until the end of the day to get an already overdue $12.6 million loan 'coupon' payment to its creditors.

Foreign holders of Russia’s sovereign bond maturing in 2029 are watching as the latest debt payment from the sanctioned nation draws closer to completion, Bloomberg News reported. The $66 million coupon due March 21 was processed Tuesday by Russia’s National Settlement Depository, it said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the Finance Ministry said it had transferred the cash to the NSD, thus meeting its obligations “in full.” Four bondholders in Europe said they hadn’t received the payment as of 3.40 p.m. in London.

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 14.53% as of March 18, its highest since November 2015 and up from 12.54% a week earlier, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, as the battered rouble sent prices soaring amid unprecedented Western sanctions, Reuters reported. Inflation accelerated sharply as the currency fell to an all-time low earlier in March and demand for a wide range of goods, from food staples to cars, rose sharply on expectations that their prices will rise further.