Sri Lanka’s dollar bonds have been the worst-performing sovereign notes in Asia this year, Bloomberg News reported. But BNP Paribas Asset Management and Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH say it might now be time to buy. The comments come after Treasury Secretary S.R.

Japan’s Renown Inc, part of Chinese fashion empire Shandong Ruyi, filed for bankruptcy on Friday with 13.9 billion yen ($130 million) in debt, the country’s highest-profile business to collapse amid the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. Renown, a century-old textile company which sells clothes under brands such as Arnold Palmer, Hiroko Koshino and D’Urban, confirmed it had filed for bankruptcy protection after a month-long closure of department stores brought the already-struggling business to its knees. It joins a list of global fashion companies, including retailers such as J.

India’s shadow lenders are facing fresh turmoil after asset manager Franklin Templeton shut funds late last month, prompting other large investors to dump the financiers’ debt, Bloomberg News reported. Mutual funds are big buyers of non-bank financial firms’ bonds and some are struggling to meet redemptions after the biggest-ever forced closure of funds in the country. Spreads on AAA rated five-year bonds of shadow lenders have soared to an eight-year high.

India’s battle-scarred bankers are hoarding cash and reluctant to lend to smaller firms, forcing the government to ride to the rescue of millions of companies struggling for survival during the nationwide lockdown, Bloomberg News reported. The lenders are accepting penalty rates to keep a record $92 billion a day with the Reserve Bank of India and have shunned a central bank program aimed at credit-starved corporates, choosing safety as the pandemic cripples economic activity. The government responded on Wednesday by offering $62 billion in credit lines and cash injections to the

A Hong Kong-listed oil explorer became the first casualty of the spectacular oil price slump in China’s offshore bond market, after defaulting on a dollar note, Bloomberg News reported. MIE Holdings Corp. failed to deliver an interest repayment of about $17 million for its 13.75% dollar bond due 2022 after a 30-day grace period expired Monday, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. This triggered cross defaults on other loan facilities, it said.

Since surviving an IMF bailout and violent change of government during the Asian financial crisis, Indonesia has shown an uncanny resilience in bouncing back from global selloffs, Bloomberg News reported in a commentary. As soon as the dust settles, investors are lured by higher yields and the promise of a young and vibrant population. Foreigners now own more than 30% of the country’s sovereign debt. This time, they may not return. The key reason is the pile of debt at state-owned enterprises that President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has built up since taking office in 2014.

Singapore-based ZenRock Commodities Trading Pte Ltd, hit by tumbling oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, owes more than $600 million to creditors, the company said in a court filing seen by Reuters on Monday. In the application for “moratorium relief”, a form of bankruptcy protection, filed last Wednesday, the company said it owed at least six banks a total of $166.1 million and had outstanding balances of about $449 million in total with at least 10 unsecured creditors, Reuters reported. ZenRock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Indonesia is finalizing a $1 billion financial bailout plan for its flag carrier to help it stave off a debt default after the coronavirus crisis forced the airline to ground most of its planes.

Asian governments have turbocharged their issuance of dollar bonds as they seek to fortify their balance sheets and fund relief efforts during the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Times reported. Sovereigns, supranationals and government agencies in the region, excluding Japan, raised $18.7bn in dollar bonds in April, their fastest rate in 10 years, according to Dealogic data. Asian governments have issued more than $30bn in dollar bonds in 2020 so far, double the total in the same period last year.

Phoenix Commodities Pvt Ltd, a trader of agricultural products with offices in Dubai and Singapore, is being liquidated after amassing more than $400 million in potential trading losses, according a document prepared by the liquidators seen by Reuters.