Bloomberg Soaring gasoline prices are fanning inflation and causing a headache for governments and central banks worldwide. In countries with elections coming up, they’re an extra headwind for the incumbents. While the US mid-terms in November are the prime example of fuel prices feeding into the political sphere, upcoming votes in Asia may also be affected. Voting is already ...

  Bloomberg Almost a year after China’s property-market debt squeeze sparked the first in a wave of defaults by developers, the industry is fighting for survival. Home sales continue to plunge and elevated borrowing costs mean offshore refinancing is off the table for many developers. Global agencies are pulling their ratings on property bonds, while a string of auditor resignations ...

  Bloomberg China’s provincial governments are bracing for a tough year, predicting income growth from taxes will slow and land sale revenue will fall, putting them under severe fiscal pressure as they try to spend more to support a faltering economy. Some local authorities are predicting their general revenue this year will be significantly weaker than an expected national economic ...