Headlines

The eurozone’s inflation rate jumped to a new high in February, presenting the European Central Bank with a difficult choice between supporting flagging growth and clamping down on accelerating prices driven by the threat to energy supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. Russia accounts for around 40% of the European Union’s imports of natural gas, a key source of energy for the bloc. It also supplies around a quarter of the bloc’s oil imports.

The Bank of Canada lifted interest rates by a quarter percentage point and signaled more hikes are coming as it starts to wrestle inflation down from a three-decade high, Bloomberg News reorted. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem increased the benchmark overnight rate to 0.5% at a decision Wednesday in Ottawa, in a widely expected move. Officials also said they expect to raise borrowing costs by more because of elevated inflation pressures, but refrained from starting a run off of the banks holdings of government bonds.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed withdrawal of insolvency proceedings against real estate development firm Nirmal Lifestyle and has also lifted a moratorium on the company. Nirmal Lifestyle has entered into a separate settlement agreement with the financial creditor, the Economic Times of India reported.

The insolvency case of Guo Wengui, the exiled Chinese businessman, got off to raucous start Tuesday when a longstanding creditor called the move “astonishing” and signaled it would wage an aggressive fight in bankruptcy court, Bloomberg News reported. Guo, a former partner of Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, filed for bankruptcy last month after moving a yacht from New York waters, a shift that would keep it out of the reach of creditors, and then facing a $134 million penalty for taking that step.

Airlines world-wide are altering routes and canceling flights to avoid Russian airspace, changes that will lengthen journey times and raise costs for carriers that were starting to bounce back from their pandemic slump, the Wall Street Journal reported. With Russia banning many European airlines from its skies, flying around the giant country may add hundreds of miles and up to two hours to some flights, incurring higher fuel, labor and maintenance costs, according to airlines and analysts.

Covid-adjusted unemployment in the Republic fell to 7 per cent in February on the back of the lifting of pandemic restrictions in late January. This was down from 7.8 per cent for the previous month and 27 per cent a year ago, the Irish Times reported. The headline rate includes people in receipt of the Government’s pandemic unemployment payment (PUP). The Central Statistics Office (CSO) estimated there was as many as 180,745 people classified as being either out of work or in receipt of the PUP last month.

Russia demanded the U.K. sell its stake in satellite startup OneWeb Ltd. and threatened to cancel a launch planned for Saturday if it didn’t, retaliating against Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. Kremlin space agency Roscosmos made the ultimatum in a statement on its official Twitter page on Wednesday and blamed “the U.K.’s hostile stance toward Russia.” It also demanded guarantees that OneWeb’s satellites wouldn’t be used for military purposes and gave a deadline of 9:30 p.m. Moscow time March 4 for answers.

The Swiss-based company which built the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is considering filing for insolvency, two sources familiar with the situation said, as it attempts to settle claims ahead of a U.S. sanction deadline for other entities to stop dealings with it, Reuters reported. The United States sanctioned Nord Stream 2 AG last week after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine prior to its invasion of the country, which has prompted a wave of economic sanctions by the West.

The U.S. and European Union blocked Russia’s central bank from using its emergency reserves to protect the economy from the Western pressure campaign, a salvo the bank’s governor said risked triggering a financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. The coordinated action blocks the central bank from selling dollars, euros and other foreign currencies in its reserves stockpile to stabilize the ruble. Announcing the move Monday in Washington before U.S. markets opened, U.S.

To most in corporate India, a ‘connected entity’ and ‘related party’ mean the same --- arguing over the difference is quibbling over semantics. But, is it? A confidential KPMG forensic report has run into legal ambiguity over the terms while making a litany of allegations on the lending practices of two Kolkata-based Srei companies which are categorized as systemically important non-banking finance companies in the country, the Economic Times of India reported.