North America

Canada's economic growth was not as robust as expected in the first quarter, dragged by lower export volumes, official data showed on Tuesday, though activity was bang-on central bank projections and unlikely to sway plans for an oversized rate hike in June, Reuters reported. The Canadian economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.1% in the first quarter, below analyst predictions of 5.4% but in line with the Bank of Canada's forecast of 3.0%, Statistics Canada data showed.

Mexico's central bank signaled concerns over rising inflation, made worse by global supply constraints and the war in Ukraine, as it raised its key rate by 50 basis points to 7.0%, minutes from the latest monetary policy meeting showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. "Most members stated that the balance of risks for the trajectory of inflation within the forecast horizon remains biased to the upside and has continued deteriorating," the Bank of Mexico said in the latest minutes.

China and the United States are committed to reach an arrangement on the audit inspection issue that is in line with legal and regulatory requirements for both sides, China's securities regulator said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The statement from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) came in response to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official saying "significant issues remain" in reaching a deal over U.S.-listed Chinese company audits.

Russia will service its dollar debt in rubles after the expiry of a sanctions loophole closed the option of payments in the US currency, potentially putting Moscow on track to default, Bloomberg News reported. The announcement came a day after the US confirmed the end of the waiver, creating another headache for Russia as it tries to get funds to investors. A payment in rubles would breach the terms on a 2026 dollar bond with coupons due this Friday, triggering a 30-day grace period before Russia could potentially slip into default.

Bankruptcies are on the rise in Canada as government supports end and businesses grapple with a challenging post-pandemic recovery featuring soaring costs, supply chain issues and a labour shortage, YahooFinance.com reported. The number of businesses that filed for insolvency in the first quarter of the year jumped 33.8 per cent compared to 2021, according to statistics released by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. A total of 807 businesses filed for bankruptcy in the quarter, up 10.1 per cent from the previous three months.

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. must pay its former business partner SL Green Realty Corp. about $185 million in a dispute over a bankrupt Manhattan skyscraper, an arbitrator said, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The arbitrator, former judge L. Priscilla Hall, found that real-estate investment trust SL Green was entitled to a $184.6 million payment over an investment that it made in HNA Group’s 245 Park Ave., according to documents made public in a New York state court on Friday. SL Green should also be reimbursed for $856,000 in fees, she said.

Mexican annual inflation eased slightly in the first half of May compared to the previous two-week period, but inflationary pressures remained well above the central bank's target, official data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Headline inflation dipped to 7.58% in early May from 7.65% during the last two weeks of April, the latest figures published by national statistics agency INEGI showed. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a rate of 7.60%. Compared with the previous two-week period, consumer prices fell 0.06% during the first half of May, INEGI said.

Mexican inflation is forecast to have slowed in the first half of May, although still far above central bank targets, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, reinforcing expectations of continued interest rate hikes through the rest of the year. The median forecast of 10 analysts surveyed was for annual consumer price inflation to have dropped to 7.58% in the first half of May, down from 7.65% in the second half of April. Annual core inflation, which strips out some volatile food and energy items, was seen at 7.22%, down slightly from 7.27% in the previous two weeks.

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday defended the central bank as inflation spikes to a three-decade high and the frontrunner to take over the opposition Conservative Party pledges to fire the Bank of Canada governor if elected, Reuters reported. "It is clear to us all that we are living through a period of global volatility. We have COVID. We have the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We have China's zero-COVID policy," Freeland told reporters by teleconference from Munich, Germany after a G7 meeting.

Business bankruptcies in Canada moved closer to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2022, jumping almost 34 per cent year-over-year in what some experts warn could be the start of a growing wave of failures, the Niagra Falls Review reported. There were 807 business bankruptcies and proposals in Q1, up from 733 in the previous quarter and 603 in the first quarter of 2021.