Headlines

Three months ago, Chinese authorities saved the country’s largest manager of distressed debt from a potentially disastrous collapse. Now, they’re turning China Huarong Asset Management Co. and its peers into a key line of defense for the $54 trillion financial system as defaults in the property sector soar, Bloomberg News reported.

Money raised by newly-launched private funds in China plunged 44% in January from a month earlier, latest official data showed, adding to evidence of rapidly-shrinking risk appetite amid a slowing economy and rising geopolitical tensions, Reuters reported. The disclosure by the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) mirrors a slump in fundraising by Chinese mutual funds, and comes as a growing number of money managers announce fund launch failures, or extend subscription periods.

The mission of the International Monetary Fund is starting its work in Ukraine for the second review of the Fund-supported programme, the global lender said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Ukraine hopes that the continuation of cooperation with the IMF can reassure markets that have been rattled by tensions with Russia and that the talks will result in disbursement of $700 million under its $5 billion IMF programme.

London Heathrow airport’s losses from two years of coronavirus disruption swelled to 3.8 billion pounds ($5.2 billion), leaving its finances hanging on a summer travel rebound and the go-ahead from regulators to raise prices, Bloomberg News reported. The U.K. hub had a loss of 1.8 billion pounds last year -- narrowing slightly from 2020 -- after passenger numbers slumped to the lowest since 1972, Heathrow said in an earnings statement on Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund told the Bank of England on Wednesday to be clear about its plans to withdraw stimulus for Britain's economy, following criticism of the central bank's communications in recent months, Reuters reported. In an annual review, the IMF said high inflation and Brexit could hurt growth in Britain in the years ahead. While IMF directors backed the BoE's decision to raise interest rates in December and February and start winding down its 895 billion pounds ($1.22 trillion) quantitative easing programme, they had some communications advice for the BoE.

Slovenia’s premier moved to block a controversial deal that would hand a large chunk of the country’s biggest tourism group to a buyer with ties to the family of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Bloomberg News reported. Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s cabinet on Monday approved a 41.6 million-euro ($47.2 million) boost to the capital of the country’s Sovereign Holding, allowing it to exercise an option to buy the 43.2% stake in Sava d.d., which controls hotels spanning the Adriatic coast to the shore of picturesque Lake Bled in the Alps.

Chile’s incoming Finance Minister Mario Marcel pledged to reduce uncertainty and seek to control debt levels, as he gets ready to take the reins of the economy next month as part of the new administration of President-elect Gabriel Boric, Bloomberg News reported. Establishing a fiscal base that allows the new government to execute its plans is priority, Marcel told reporters in Santiago on Tuesday after a meeting with outgoing Finance Minister Rodrigo Cerda.

U.S. President Joe Biden unleashed sanctions targeting Russia’s sale of sovereign debt abroad and the country’s elites, responding to what he described as the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. “He’s setting up a rationale to take more territory by force,” Biden said Tuesday at the White House. “This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Biden said that he’s sending an unspecified number of additional U.S. troops to the Baltics in a defensive move to defend NATO countries.

Germany and the European Union are in a position to decide on further sanctions against Russia in the event of a complete Russian invasion of Ukraine, which cannot be ruled out, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Scholz said Russia's recognition of the two breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was not compatible with international law and endangered the sovereignty of Ukraine. "We cannot accept this," Scholz was quoted as saying by broadcaster RTL, adding that respecting borders was important for peace in Europe.

London’s transport authority could declare bankruptcy in a matter of days if the government fails to provide continued financial support, The Guardian reported. Transport for London (TfL) saw its income severely reduced during the Covid-19 pandemic because of the sudden lack of passengers traveling on the network. The government bolstered the public body, which relies on fare revenue to fund its operations, with a series of short-term funding deals. However, the latest ran out at midnight on Friday, and an extension is yet to be agreed.