Headlines

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has conveyed to its central board that it favours a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, the Economic Times of India reported. The RBI made a detailed presentation to the board highlighting "serious concerns" relating to macroeconomic and financial stability as well as exchange management, according to a source. "The board was apprised of RBI's stance on the matter."The central bank also highlighted the challenge of regulating intangible assets that originate overseas.

Europe is bracing for energy shortages this week as freezing weather is set to boost demand at a time supply just can’t keep up, Bloomberg News reported. Temperatures are forecast to fall below zero degrees Celsius in several European capitals this week, straining electricity grids already coping with low wind speeds and severe nuclear outages in France. To make matters worse, Russia signaled it intends to keep natural gas flows through a major transit route to Germany limited on Monday after capping supplies over the weekend.

There is still a lot scientists do not know about Omicron. There is cautious optimism — but no certainty — about the effectiveness of vaccines against this fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, and experts do not fully understand what it means for public health or the economy. But central banks have concluded they don’t have the luxury of waiting to find out, the New York Times reported.

French growth and inflation will moderate in 2022 after a faster than expected recovery this year, after which a tighter labour market will boost wages, the French central bank forecast on Sunday, Reuters reported. The euro zone's second-biggest economy is set to grow 6.7% this year, the Bank of France said in its latest long term outlook, raising its forecast up from 6.3% previously. The post-pandemic economy's momentum would wane next year, with growth slowing to 3.6% and easing back further to 2.2% in 2023 and 1.4% in 2024, the central bank said.

Britain's health minister on Sunday declined to rule out the chance of further COVID-19 restrictions before Christmas, saying the spread of the Omicron variant was a very fast moving situation, Reuters reported. Britain has reported a surge in Omicron cases, which government advisers said could be just the tip of the iceberg. On Saturday, London's mayor declared a "major incident" to help the city's hospitals cope.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to continue interest rate cuts that have made the Turkish lira the world’s worst performing currency over the past three months, referring to Islamic proscriptions on usury as a basis for his new policy push, Bloomberg News reported. “What is it? We are lowering interest rates. Don’t expect anything else from me,” Erdogan said Sunday in televised comments from Istanbul. “As a Muslim, I’ll continue to do what is required by nas,” Erdogan said, using an Arabic word used in Turkish to refer to Islamic teachings.

Australia on Friday won a landmark court ruling against Singapore Telecommunications, a victory in the country’s battle against tax avoidance by multinational companies through cross-border financing arrangements, Bloomberg News reported. The Federal Court of Australia on Friday dismissed the company’s appeal of a tax assessment related to the acquisition financing of Singtel Optus in 2001.

The European Central Bank announced on Thursday that it would end its pandemic-era bond-buying program in March, but would try to ease the transition by pledging additional support for the eurozone economy in the coming year, the New York Times reported. The bank left its interest rate untouched, and Christine Lagarde, the bank’s president, said that it was “very unlikely” it would move higher in the coming year despite rising inflation, which the bank sees as largely driven by high energy prices. Two other major central banks have taken a different approach.

Germany’s federal government plans to sell the second-highest amount of debt on record next year, as aggressive spending to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues, Bloomberg News reported. Debt issuance will shrink to about 410 billion euros ($464 billion) in 2022, compared with a record of around 480 billion euros this year, according to the German finance agency’s issuance plan published Thursday. The borrowing includes inflation-linked bonds worth as much as 8 billion euros, and Green bonds of 12.5 billion euros, a similar volume to this year, the agency said by email.

China’s financial regulator is coordinating negotiations between Shimao Group Holding Ltd. and some trust firms for loan extensions, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign that authorities want to prevent a cash crunch at the embattled developer, Bloomberg News reported. Officials from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission helped arrange talks between Shimao and trust firms including Guotong Trust Co. and China Minsheng Trust Co., the people said, asking not to be named discussing a private matter.