Bloomberg Brazil’s retail sales rose more than forecast on gains in categories such as fuels, clothing and electronics, as cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus plunged. Sales rose 1.1% in February from the month prior, more than the 0.3% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. At the same time, January’s increase was revised higher to 2.1%. …

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank delivered its biggest interest-rate increase in 22 years, signaling that policy makers around world may need to step up efforts to get inflation under control. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee lifted the official cash rate by half a percentage point to 1.5% in Wellington, the first time it has delivered an increase of …

  Bloomberg China’s central bank pledged financial support for logistics firms and truck drivers to ensure the country can maintain supply chain stability amid the worst Covid outbreak in two years. The People’s Bank of China will ask lenders to “reasonably” extend and renew loans for the industry, it said in a statement, following a central bank meeting on coordinating …