The Bank of Mexico left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday, pausing after 12 consecutive cuts to assess the inflationary impact of recent tax and tariff increases, the Wall Street Journal reported. The five-member board of governors voted unanimously to leave the overnight interest-rate target at 7.0% in their first monetary policy meeting of the year. The pause was widely expected. The board “deemed appropriate on this occasion to pause the rate-cutting cycle, consistent with the assessment of the current inflationary outlook,” the central bank said.

The 2025 financial debt of Mexico's state-owned oil firm Pemex, closed at $84.5 billion, the company's CEO Victor Rodriguez Padilla said on Wednesday during the daily morning press conference of Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum, Reuters reported. Pemex's financial debt at the end of 2024 was of $97.6 billion. 2025 marks the fifth consecutive year that the state-owned firm saw a decrease in its financial debt, Rodriguez said. Read more.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday that the concession of contracts to operate two ports held and operated for nearly three decades by Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings will "never again" be issued to a single company, Reuters reported. Panama's Supreme Court last week nullified CK Hutchison's contract to operate two ports along its strategic canal through its Panama Ports Company subsidiary, ruling that the contracts violated the Central American nation's constitution by giving the company exclusive privileges and tax exemptions.

In China’s northeastern grain belt, farmers are getting a windfall from the government: more subsidies to grow soybeans, part of an estimated $1 trillion national effort to declare economic independence from the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. More than 7,500 miles away, in Milwaukee, the industrial-parts manufacturer Husco is scrambling to use fewer Chinese-made components in its U.S. factories, as the Trump administration wields tariffs to reduce imports and try to resurrect American manufacturing.

The Chinese company operating ports at the Panama Canal has filed for arbitration after the country’s Supreme Court voided its operating contract, claiming it was unfairly targeted by the country over the past year, Freight Waves reported. Panama Ports Company, a unit of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, said on Wednesday that it has commenced arbitration proceedings against Panama over its concession contract at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Almost half a trillion dollars has been wiped off cryptocurrencies in less than a week as a selloff led by Bitcoin accelerated, Bloomberg News reported. Total crypto market value has slumped by $467.6 billion since Jan. 29, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin on Tuesday tumbled to its lowest level since US President Donald Trump won re-election in early November 2024 and ushered in a more crypto-friendly administration. Despite a pro-crypto White House and surging institutional adoption, Bitcoin has plummeted about 40% since rocketing to a record in early October.

Klöckner Pentaplast (kp) has completed its restructuring under the US Chapter 11 process, resulting in the removal of around €1.3bn ($1.5bn) in funded debt from its balance sheet, EuroNews.com reported. The company’s exit from court oversight follows an injection of €349m in new capital as part of its plans to stabilise ongoing operations. Ownership of Klöckner Pentaplast has now shifted to a consortium of financial partners led by funds affiliated with Redwood Capital Management.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he had agreed on a trade deal with India that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% in exchange for India lowering trade barriers, stopping its purchases of Russian oil and buying oil instead from the U.S. and ​potentially Venezuela, Reuters reported.

President Donald Trump said he is “decertifying” all aircraft built in Canada, and he threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on Canadian aircraft sold to the United States — an escalation of trade tensions between the neighboring countries that could have ramifications for U.S. air travel, the Washington Post reported. In a Truth Social post late Thursday, Trump accused Canada of “wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly” refusing to certify models of Gulfstream jets and “effectively prohibiting” the sale of the American-owned business jets in Canada.