Banking

Bloomberg Real interest rates in South Asia are among the highest in the world, raising prospect of more dovish monetary policy in region. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India rank in the top five of world’s major economies with the highest inflation-adjusted interest rates. While negative real rates might be considered a sign of financial instability, a high inflation-adjusted benchmark interest ...

Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China has been quietly guiding interbank borrowing costs down without actually cutting official interest rates, with the latest move a record one-day injection of cash into the market. The central bank pumped a net 1.14 trillion yuan ($169 billion) into the financial system through open-market operations so far, with one say’s operation the biggest one-day ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc expects India’s central bank to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point in February, the latest to add its voice to a chorus of calls for monetary policy easing. The Wall Street bank said lower inflation projections, and expectations of a slower pace of US policy rate hikes prompted it to shift its call ...

Bloomberg The window to restock monetary ammunition is closing for the world’s major central banks. With economic growth slowing and inflation lagging in big economies like the US and euro area, a push to escape crisis-era policy settings that include rock bottom interest rates appears at risk of stalling. That will leave less firepower to fight off the next economic ...

Bloomberg The impending bankruptcy of PG&E Corp is threatening to foist large liabilities on five banks that have agreed to act as buyers of last resort for more than $760 million of bonds that the teetering utility issued through California government agencies. The company’s announcement that it plans to seek protection from creditors triggered a surge of selling by owners ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second month, while keeping the door open for more policy action if needed. After hiking by 175 basis points since May, Bank Indonesia kept its seven-day reverse repurchase rate at 6 percent, as predicted by all 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Governor Perry Warjiyo said the rate was ...

Bloomberg It’s shaping up to be a sad bonus season for Europe’s battered bankers. ING Groep NV said payouts will be “significantly smaller” after the largest Dutch lender paid record fines to end a money-laundering probe. Two of France’s top banks are also weighing lower rewards after their trading units were hit by a broader downturn. At Deutsche Bank AG, ...

Bloomberg A combination of the China trade war and government shutdown could be enough to tip the US economy into recession this year, according to Torsten Slok, Deutsche Bank’s chief international economist. The stark warning comes amid emerging signs that the world’s biggest economy is slowing down as gauges of manufacturing and consumer sentiment have fallen in recent weeks. Economists ...

Bloomberg Angola’s central bank, which revoked two lenders’ banking licenses this month, will shut down more institutions if they fail to meet minimum capital levels amid an asset-quality review, Governor Jose Lima de Massano said. Bad loans have crippled the banking sector of Africa’s second-biggest oil producer after a sharp drop in crude prices in mid-2014 triggered a three-year economic ...

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA is considering closing its proprietary-trading unit, people familiar with the matter said, a week after French rival BNP Paribas SA decided to shut its operation. SocGen executives are reviewing the future of the Descartes Trading division, which makes risky bets with its shareholders’ funds, said the people, who requested anonymity as the details are private. The ...