1 China, the world's top consumer of base metals, will boost stockpiles, accelerate the closure of excess capacity and provide tax breaks as the country grapples with a raw materials glut.

2 Indonesia's central bank said yesterday that it expects economic growth to improve in the second quarter, maintaining its gross domestic product growth outlook for this year at between 5 per cent and 5.4 per cent.

3 Greece's jobless rate rose to 24.9 per cent in the first three months of the year from 24.4 per cent in the previous quarter, data showed yesterday. About 70.3 per cent of Greece's 1.19 million jobless are long-term unemployed.

4 Indonesia's Lion Air, a major buyer of Airbus and Boeing jets, has been removed from the European Union's air-safety blacklist.That means Lion Air is no longer banned from flying in the 28-nation EU.

5 Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, a bitter rival of US-based Uber, has raised US$7.3 billion (S$9.8 billion) in one of the world's largest private equity financing rounds, the company said yesterday.