A measure of Australian consumer sentiment slid for an eighth straight month to match pandemic lows in July as the surging cost of living and rising interest rates darkened the national mood.

African countries' debts with China are a third of what they owe non-Chinese private lenders, while interest rates are just over half, according to a report published on Monday amid a debate about the role of the world's largest bilateral creditor.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Recent inflation data "has not been as encouraging as I would have liked," Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic said on Monday, saying that the lack of month-to-month improvement in the pace of price increases warrants another 0.75 percentage point increase in the federal funds rate when policymakers meet later this month.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's automobile industry association downgraded its 2022 sales forecast on Monday as anti-pandemic measures weighed on the economy and its car market, the world's largest.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -A slump in commercial-vehicle demand led China's automobile industry association on Monday to downgrade its sales forecast, as anti-pandemic measures weighed on the economy and its car market, the world's largest.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's auto sales surged 23.8% in June from a year earlier, the first increase in four months after authorities cut taxes and offered subsidies to encourage car purchases as COVID-19 curbs eased.