Krungthai Bank (KTB) could be required to set aside higher loan-loss provisions to deal with a potential bad-loan uptick this year as the deteriorating debt-servicing ability of clients is further hit by the sagging economy, the Bangkok Post reported. The bank has implemented several financial assistance measures, including debt restructuring required by the Bank of Thailand, to keep customers afloat during this difficult period, and these aid measures could weaken the bank's asset quality, said Payong Srivanich, KTB's president.

A top Chinese technology company that’s struggled for months to assure creditors of its financial stability has seen its efforts to secure a fresh loan disrupted by the coronavirus crisis, Bloomberg News reported. With payments on a dollar loan coming due next month, Tsinghua Unigroup Co. has been engaged with lenders on a $900 million financing deal. That loan has been delayed partly due to the coronavirus outbreak and the Lunar New Year holiday, a company spokesman said Tuesday. Even so, the financing market has been open for others.

Chinese airlines are rushing to refinance their fleets as they struggle with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the head of Avolon, one of the world’s largest aviation leasing companies, the Financial Times reported. “When the airline industry is impacted, it tends to move quickly to preserve cash. That is what we are seeing here. The phones have started ringing. We’ve seen a dramatic step up of airlines reaching out to do sale and lease back transactions,” said Domhnal Slattery, chief executive of the Dublin-based company.

The coronavirus outbreak may have a bigger and longer-term impact on China’s economy than thought, as fewer migrant workers have returned for work than in previous years and business activities have been slow to pick up, according to Nomura Holdings Inc, Bloomberg News reported. To contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), Chinese authorities have ordered city lockdowns and extended holidays at the expense of near-term economic growth.

Indian tycoon owners of bankrupt companies are being told their assets aren’t off limits, Bloomberg News reported. Weeks after India’s criminal enforcement bureau announced a second auction of the prized personal possessions of fugitive jeweler Nirav Modi including his favorite watch and his Rolls Royce Ghost, the U.K High Court recently asked Anil Ambani to deposit $100 million of his personal wealth to partially pay back debt due to a trio of Chinese banks. The rush to collect on the assets includes a swoop on Vijay Mallya’s French island mansion and yacht by Qatar National Bank.

Noble Group, the commodity trader that almost blew up in an accounting and debt scandal before pushing through a dramatic financial restructuring, has hired a new finance chief, the Financial Times reported. The Hong Kong-based company said on Friday that it has recruited Jacques Enri, the former chief financial officer of Gunvor, one of the world’s leading energy traders. He replaces Paul Jackaman who left in July.

Singapore Exchange Ltd. published a list of firms that are now required to provide quarterly earnings reports based on its risk-based approach, a few weeks after the city-state scrapped the requirement for most companies, Bloomberg News reported. Hyflux Ltd. and Best World International Ltd. were among 109 names published on the SGX website. The companies either have a qualified report from auditors, worries about them as a going concern or have been identified by the exchange itself for regulatory concerns.

The Australian dollar tumbled to its weakest level since the financial crisis as investors continued to weigh the impact of the coronavirus on economic growth in China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, the Financial Times reported. The currency, typically regarded as a proxy for Chinese economic growth, fell as much as 1 per cent to $0.6662 in New York trade on Friday morning, the lowest level against the greenback since March 2009.

New measures by New Delhi designed to encourage banks to boost lending and take more risks are unlikely to revive anaemic credit growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy, industry observers have warned, the Financial Times reported. The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday eased new lending for cars, residential housing and small businesses and introduced a $14bn facility that allows commercial lenders to borrow more cheaply from the central bank.

Natural disasters are unpredictable events with broadly predictable results: a destruction of property and wealth, but no lasting impact on economic growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. Australia’s wildfires, which have ravaged more than 26,000 square miles of land and killed at least 30 people, will be the latest big test of that view. At stake is the country’s 28-year run without a recession—the longest ongoing streak in the developed world.