Equities struggled Wednesday after a brief respite from last week's painful rout across world markets, with recession fears continuing to build as central banks hike interest rates to combat decades-high inflation. 

Several countries have asked Indonesia for rice, hoping the world's third-largest producer of the grain can help them overcome shortages at home, but experts and farmers see little chance of Indonesia becoming a major exporter in the foreseeable future.

Waskita Beton Precast (WSBP), a subsidiary of state-owned construction firm Waskita Karya, has cleared the path to restructure its Rp 8.8 trillion ($539.7 million) debt after a majority of creditors backed the company’s proposal.

United Kingdom-based oil producer BP and Malaysia-based Petronas are set to manage the Agung I, Agung II and North Ketapang working areas in East Java.

The world economy had just gained some breathing space after two years of pandemic restrictions, only to be thrown into disarray again by high inflation, forcing authorities around the world to embark on a course of unprecedented monetary tightening. Filippo Gori, CEO of JP Morgan Asia-Pacific, spoke with The Jakarta Post’s Vincent Fabian Thomas and Mark Lempp on June 17 to discuss challenges in the global economy, capital market and banking industry.

White House officials discussed options on Friday with Biden for reducing some of former President Donald Trump's punitive duties on China, including potentially substantial cuts, three of the sources said. The scale of any potential final move is not yet decided, they said.

Equities rose Tuesday in Asia as some stability returned to markets after last week's upheaval, but analysts warned of further pain for traders after central bank officials hinted at further interest rate hikes to reel in inflation.

Technology start-ups are laying off employees around the world, taking the sheen off a sector many graduates and young professionals in Indoensia consider the crème de la crème of employment opportunities.

Indonesian authorities hope to reach an agreement with Singapore to start exporting chickens within weeks, officials said, as the city-state scrambles to find alternative supply sources after another neighbor Malaysia restricted sales.

"Airlines are resilient. People are flying in ever greater numbers. And cargo is performing well against a backdrop of growing economic uncertainty," IATA director-general Willie Walsh said in an upgraded industry forecast for 2022.

Russia, facing severe Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, warned the European Union in April against sweeping sanctions on coal, saying they would backfire as the fuel would be redirected to other markets.

Imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia's European and Far Eastern ports, totalled nearly 8.42 million tonnes, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

Markets widely believe that Chinese policymakers are wary of risks that the yuan will depreciate and capital outflows will be triggered if they embark on further monetary easing to underpin a COVID-19-hit economy at a time when other major economies are tightening their rates policies.

The US Federal Reserve's biggest rate hike since 1994, the first such Swiss move in 15 years, a fifth rise in British rates since December and a move by the European Central Bank to bolster the indebted south all took turns roiling markets.

Garuda Indonesia has won by a landslide a vote on its proposal to restructure Rp 142 trillion ($9 billion) of its liabilities, allowing the flag carrier to avert bankruptcy and live to fight another day.

The digital currency sector has been pummeled this week after cryptocurrency lending company Celsius froze withdrawals and transfers between accounts, while crypto companies started laying off employees. There also were reports that a cryptocurrency hedge fund had run into trouble.

Fish and shrimp famers on the northern coast of Java are dealing with the aftermath of the worst tidal inundations in at least a decade, and more flooding is expected this month.

Indonesia’s second-largest oil and gas company has seen its revenue rise 62 percent on the year as its production increased simultaneously with surging oil prices.

WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the trade ministers' conference had struck an "unprecedented package of deliverables" after the global trade body's 164 members passed the deals just before 5:00 am (0300 GMT) at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva.

"First of all, it’s not inevitable," Biden told AP in an interview. "Secondly, we’re in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation," he said.

But it said it would "pay due attention" to foreign exchange markets, a rare comment that comes after the yen hit a 24-year low against the dollar.

The deals were ground out over five days of bargaining at a conference of over 100 trade ministers, and are seen as a test of the ability for nations to strike multilateral trade deals amid high geopolitical tensions. One agreement has already been reached, on maintaining a moratorium on e-commerce tariffs.

World stocks on Friday headed for their worst week since markets' pandemic meltdown in March 2020, as investors feared sharp rate hikes tipping economies into recession, while growth fears and a soaring Swiss franc whacked the US dollar.

As foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) continues to spread, the price of sacrificial livestock has witnessed a notable hike amid rising demand and limited supply nearing the celebration of Idul Adha.

Countries were still negotiating on deadline day Thursday after frantically haggling through the night in a bid to salvage deals on food security, fishing and combating COVID-19 at the World Trade Organization's first conference in nearly five years.

Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark chose Indonesia as one of the first countries on his first business trip since the pandemic. During his two-day visit, Lundmark spoke with The Jakarta Post’s Vincent Fabian Thomas and Mark Lempp on June 10 to discuss challenges and opportunities in the network industry and Nokia’s installation of communication technology in Indonesia and other countries.

Indonesian payments platform Flip has secured additional investment to increase its Series B funding to more than $100 million.