Bloomberg Australian household spending jumped in November as the southeastern state of Victoria was released from lockdown and consumers took advantage of discounts during annual Black Friday sales. Retail sales advanced 7.1% from a month earlier, compared with the 7% gain forecast by economists and the 7% reported in late December as the preliminary figure, data from the Australian Bureau …

Bloomberg India’s central bank expects banks’ bad-loan ratios to almost double this year and warned that soaring markets and a weakened economy threaten financial stability. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forecasts non-performing assets will rise to 13.5% of total advances by the end of September from 7.5% a year ago, according to its semiannual Financial Stability Report. If the …

Bloomberg India will seek to narrow its budget deficit next financial year, amid expectations of improved revenue collections and economic rebound, according to Standard Chartered Bank Plc. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will likely target fiscal deficit — the gap between income and expenditure — at 5.3% of gross domestic product in the budget for the year starting April 1, the …