Headlines

South African Airways (SAA) said an amended business rescue (BR) plan for its low-cost subsidiary Mango was approved at a meeting of creditors on Thursday, paving the way for the airline to seek an equity partner, Reuters reported. "According to the BR practitioners the process to secure a successful bidder, inclusive of concluding the relevant acquisition agreements, is anticipated to be completed by the end of March 2022," SAA said in a statement. Business rescue is a form of bankruptcy protection in South Africa.

Brazil’s economy fell into recession as extreme weather conditions, high interest rates and inflation cut short its recovery from the pandemic, dealing a blow to President Jair Bolsonaro just as he prepares for his re-election campaign, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product fell 0.1% in the July-September period after posting a revised decline of 0.4% in the second quarter. From a year ago, the economy expanded 4%, the national statistics agency said on Thursday. The downturn shows mounting challenges for Latin America’s largest economy.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed a new treasury and finance minister early Thursday after Lutfi Elvan stepped down from the post as the currency has been tumbling to record lows, the Associated Press reported. Erdogan named Nureddin Nebati, who was deputy minister, to the post, according to an announcement published in the Official Gazette. It said Elvan asked to be “pardoned from the job” and that his request was accepted.

Hungary delivered its fourth interest-rate increase in a month to nurture a nascent recovery in the forint, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank in Budapest raised the one-week deposit rate by 20 basis points to 3.10% on Thursday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey were evenly split in predicting a 10 or 20 basis point increase. The central bank is doubling down on monetary tightening after its inflation-fighting credibility was dented this fall, when it prematurely slowed the pace of rate hikes as peers in the Czech Republic and Poland accelerated theirs and prices continued to surge.

Euro zone producer prices jumped more than expected in October, data showed on Thursday, driven mainly by a surge in energy prices, while unemployment eased again as the economy continued to recover from the pandemic-induced recession, Reuters reported. The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said prices at factory gates in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 5.4% month-on-month for a 21.9% year-on-year surge. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 3.5% monthly rise and a 19.0% annual gain.

Advisers to China's government will recommend authorities set a 2022 economic growth target below the one set for 2021, giving policymakers more room to push structural reforms amid growing challenges to the outlook, Reuters reported. Investors are closely watching for clues on next year's policy and reform agenda as President Xi Jinping and other top leaders hold the annual Central Economic Work Conference due this month.

The embattled Mexican airline Interjet is planning a return to operations by next year with a new fleet comprised of 10 Airbus SE A320 jets and potentially 10 Czech-made Let L-410 planes, Bloomberg News reported. The plan to fly again depends on the company’s ability to navigate a “distressed investing” strategy that will be separated into three tranches, said insolvency specialist Ivan Romo, who is helping with Interjet’s restructuring. The company is in talks with four firms for close to $750 million in financing, Romo said.

Italy's Treasury is discussing with European Union authorities the possibility of extending by more than two years a 2021 deadline to cut Rome's 64% stake in ailing bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), Reuters reported. Under the terms of a 5.4 billion euro ($6.12 billion) state bailout agreed with Brussels in 2017, Italy was supposed to have a deal in place by the end of this year to re-privatise MPS, but this has not proved possible. Talks to sell the Tuscan lender to the country's No.2 bank UniCredit collapsed in October, leaving the Treasury chasing alternative options.

Turkey’s central bank moved Wednesday to prop up the country’s collapsing currency, selling foreign reserves after the lira reached new lows following comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in defense of his unorthodox economic policies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The lira rebounded after the bank said it was taking action to address “unhealthy price formations in exchange rates.” The free-falling lira has heaped economic pressure on ordinary Turkish people, who are struggling with rising prices of food, fuel, medicine and other essential goods.

The U.K.’s energy regulator said it may impose stricter capital requirements for gas and power suppliers after almost two dozen companies collapsed since August in the wake of soaring prices, Bloomberg News reported. The surge in wholesale rates to levels almost four times higher than usual for this time of year has wreaked havoc on the energy retail sector. Many of those going out of business were partially or totally unhedged, leaving them vulnerable when prices increased dramatically.