More Canadian firms see inflation easing over the next two years than in the previous quarter, while the business outlook fell to its lowest level since the pandemic, the Bank of Canada said on Monday in a third-quarter survey, Reuters reported. About a third of firms expect a recession over the coming year, the same level as the previous quarter, the survey said. The Bank of Canada has hiked rates 10 times since early 2022 to fight inflation but left rates at 5% at its Sept. 6 meeting, and noted the economy had entered a period of weaker growth. Its next policy decision is due on Oct. 25.

Mexico’s central bank is open to starting interest rate cuts in mid-2024, later than analysts expect, as a strong local economy complicates its inflation fight, a prominent board member said in an interview, Bloomberg News reported. Analysts are correct in penciling in the start of Banco de Mexico’s monetary easing no earlier than the first quarter of 2024, Jonathan Heath said in an interview on Friday.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the inflation rate remains too high but there are clear signs that aggressive interest-rate hikes are reducing demand, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers remain concerned that they aren’t seeing “downward momentum” in core inflation measures, Macklem told reporters Friday, adding that his governing council is focused on analyzing how a slowing economy will influence price pressures in the future.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) will decide later this year if it should eliminate Imperial Pacific International (IPI) from its casino plans. It may not have to wait, though, as two new lawsuits in Hong Kong want the company to be deemed insolvent, Casino.org reported.

A U.S. bankruptcy court judge granted SAS AB’s request to speed the process of paying $3 million to advisers of the Scandinavian airline’s investor group, keeping its restructuring on track over opposition from creditor Apollo Global Management Inc., Bloomberg News reported. Judge Michael E. Wiles set an Oct. 12 hearing on a motion to expedite reimbursement to advisers to the group led by Air France-KLM and Castlelake LP, who are set to take control of SAS as it exits from chapter 11 protection.

Deutsche Bank AG squared off against the U.S. parent company of Lehman Brothers in a London court this week, hoping to squeeze more money from obscure notes issued by the long-dead bank’s U.K. arm, Bloomberg News reported. The German lender argued that it should be paid money recovered from the U.K. unit ahead of the company’s U.S. parent. Deutsche Bank is leading the case as a holder of a certain type of junior security issued from Lehman’s European unit.

About 4,300 unionized workers went on strike at three General Motors plants in Canada on Tuesday, boosting pressure on the automaker grappling with a U.S. union work stoppage now in its fourth week, Reuters reported. The walkout by workers came after Canadian union Unifor said GM was "stubbornly refusing" to match the contract the labor union reached with Ford Motor, which offered wage increases of up to 25% in Canada.

Credito Real filed a prepackaged insolvency agreement in a Mexican federal court on Friday, people familiar with the matter said, in a bid to resolve the collapse of what had been the country’s biggest payroll lender, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed a so-called concurso mercantil with a plan that is backed by more than 50% of holders of its $1.9 billion of dollar bonds, said the people, requesting anonymity since they were not authorized to speak with media.

Newly licensed private businesses are becoming a lifeline for Cuba, bringing in about half of the country’s total food imports as the cash-strapped Communist government struggles to keep power plants running and provide public transport because of acute fuel shortages, the Wall Street Journal reported. Havana passed laws allowing Cubans to form small businesses that can employ up to 100 people in the wake of countrywide protests that shook the impoverished island two years ago. Since then, more than 8,000 small and midsize businesses have registered with the government.

The Dominican Republic's economy is expected to grow 3% this year, its presidency said in a statement on Wednesday, marking a slowdown from previous levels and below recent forecasts, Reuters reported. The growth forecast would mark a slowdown from the 4.9% posted last year and the International Monetary Fund's June estimate of 4%. The IMF had forecast that growth would return to around 5% next year. The Caribbean country's inflation should meanwhile remain "within normal parameters" this year, the presidency said in the statement.