BLOOMBERG India’s privately owned banks are extending new loans faster than their state-run rivals for the first time ever, as government lenders struggle to bring surging bad loans under control. New credit from private lenders amounted to 3.5 trillion rupees (US$52.4 billion) in the year to March 31, taking their outstanding advances to 17.9 trillion rupees, while state banks’ …

  Bloomberg The main lending unit of Japan’s biggest bank may quit as one of the 22 primary dealers that underwrite auctions of the nation’s bonds, potentially becoming the first major financial firm to withdraw since the Bank of Japan introduced negative interest rates this year. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd is considering the move and nothing has been decided, …

  Bloomberg The yuan’s pricing mechanism is increasingly transparent and its rate against a basket of currencies may alternate between appreciation and depreciation, according to Ma Jun, chief economist of the People’s Bank of China’s research bureau. Since the spring festival holiday in February, changes in the yuan’s central parity rate against the dollar have been closely aligned with the …