Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) is expected to embark on a series of interest-rate increases to tame inflation and rein in soaring house prices, even as a coronavirus outbreak that has now spread beyond Auckland poses a greater risk to economic growth. Reserve Bank policy makers will raise the official cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5% …

Bloomberg China has urged financial institutions to help local governments stabilise the rapidly cooling housing market and ease mortgages for some homebuyers, another signal that authorities are worried about fallout from the debt crisis at China Evergrande Group. At a meeting chaired by central bank Governor Yi Gang, authorities told financial institutions to cooperate with governments “to jointly maintain the …

Bloomberg Hamza Lemssouguer, a former top debt trader at Credit Suisse Group, is raising hundreds of millions of dollars from Squarepoint Capital as he starts his own hedge fund. Lemssouguer, 31, known for amassing large, risky bets on corporations, will manage the money as part of a venture with London-based Squarepoint. The Moroccan-born trader, who hopes to attract other investors, …