Thai budget carrier Nok Airlines Pcl obtained court approval to proceed with a debt rehabilitation plan as it weathers a slump in passenger demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s Central Bankruptcy Court said Nok Air should submit its plan by the first quarter of next year, the company said in an exchange filing Wednesday. The pandemic has devastated global aviation, forcing airlines to suspend flights, lay off employees and seek financial help from governments and investors.

National Australia Bank on Thursday posted a 36.6% fall in annual profit, hurt by higher loan loss provisions for the COVID-19 pandemic, customer and payroll remediation, and higher wages, Reuters reported. Australia’s third largest lender also warned costs would keep rising in the next few years, and asset quality would deteriorate in the pandemic-stressed economy. NAB reported full-year cash earnings of A$3.71 billion ($2.66 billion), compared with a restated figure of A$5.85 billion last year. Analysts polled by Reuters on average expected cash earnings of A$3.82 billion.

Malaysian state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) said late on Tuesday it had approved an additional 10 billion ringgit ($2.40 billion) dividend to the government to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Earlier this week, the country’s economic minister had said Petronas would pay the government, its sole shareholder, 34 billion ringgit in dividends this year. The firm, which suffered its first loss in nearly five years during the second quarter, had initially pledged to pay 24 billion ringgit and said any additional funding would depend on its affordability.

China suspended Ant Group’s $37 billion listing on Tuesday, thwarting the world’s largest stock market debut with just days to go in a dramatic blow to the financial technology firm founded by billionaire Jack Ma, Reuters reported. The Shanghai stock exchange said it had suspended the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on its tech-focused STAR Market, prompting Ant to also freeze the Hong Kong leg of its dual listing scheduled for Thursday.

Australia Post licensees say their business are now “worthless” after CEO Christine Holgate quit over the Cartier watch scandal, PerthNow reported. Executive director Angela Cramp, who heads the group of 2850 members, said there was “no way back from this” after Australia Post boss Christine Holgate resigned on Monday – just weeks after the Prime Minister bluntly told her if she didn’t wish to stand aside “she should go”. “Australia Post Australia and licensees are all the poorer from this,” Ms Cramp said.

Two debt restructuring schemes have been introduced to help distressed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, providing support to those facing challenges amid the Covid-19 crisis, The Straits Times reported. The Sole Proprietors and Partnerships Scheme and the Extended Support Scheme - Customised allow SMEs to restructure their credit facilities and debts owed to multiple creditors.

The Australian Financial Security Authority has issued a warning around dodgy insolvency advisers ahead of an anticipated spike of bankruptcies, nestegg reported. The personal insolvency regulator has now launched a public campaign to raise awareness on the prevalence of dodgy insolvency advisers and telltale signs for the public to look out for. The Australian Financial Security Authority’s campaign comes as it is particularly concerned that those experiencing financial stress because of the economic impact of COVID-19 may be easy targets.

AIRASIA X Bhd’s (AAX) plan to restructure RM63.49 billion worth of debt owed to its creditors has already hit a few hurdles, the Edge reported. The Edge has learnt that BOC Aviation Ltd — one of the 1,200 unsecured creditors that are being asked to write down their dues by AAX — has applied to intervene in the long-haul, low-cost carrier’s application for leave to hold a scheme creditors’ meeting to vote on the scheme.

Like the coronavirus crisis itself, the response of the world’s governments has been on a scale never seen before, the Financial Times reported. The IMF estimates that fiscal spending and tax cuts worldwide add up to more than $11.7tn so far, on top of a monetary policy response in which trillions of dollars have been pumped into the global financial system by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks. Old policy prescriptions have been torn up. Once the guardian of austerity, the IMF has urged countries to spend as much as possible.

Chinese financial institutions, not only the country’s official creditors, are working to help ease the debt woes of African nations, which have worsened due to the pandemic-induced global economic downturn, Beijing’s top Africa diplomat said on Friday, Reuters reported. China, Africa’s largest creditor, has agreed to take part in a World Bank and International Monetary Fund-supported initiative to suspend debt service on official bilateral debt for poorer countries.