Turkey had its debt rating cut deeper into junk by Moody’s Investors Service, which warned of a possible balance-of-payments crisis in assigning the lowest grade it’s ever given to the country, Bloomberg News reported. The sovereign credit rating was cut to B2, five levels below investment grade and on par with Egypt, Jamaica and Rwanda. The company kept a negative outlook on the rating, saying fiscal metrics could deteriorate faster than currently expected.

India’s top court extended the easing of rules over the classification of non-performing loans until further notice, delaying the disclosure of how much bad debt banks hold, Bloomberg News reported. The three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan on Thursday gave the government two weeks to come up with relief measures for virus-hit businesses and said such a decision had to be put before the court for consideration. It also reiterated that banks must not classify any loans as bad if they were performing at the end of August until further order.

AirAsia Group Bhd. is seeking to raise as much as 2.5 billion ringgit ($600 million) by the end of the year as it tries to survive a business slump exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The Subang, Malaysia-based budget carrier may borrow up to 1.5 billion ringgit from banks and another 1 billion ringgit from investors, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Lenders will have to consider financial parameters such as liquidity and debt-servicing ratios while preparing a restructuring plan for loan accounts that have turned bad due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India said following the recommendations of an external panel, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank identified 26 sectors affected by the pandemic such as auto, aviation and tourism, which can be offered a resolution subject to criteria including debt-coverage ratio, outstanding liabilities and net worth at pre-Covid levels.

Australia will extend its temporary insolvency and bankruptcy protection rules until the end of this year, Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Monday, providing businesses a lifeline to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Under the rules, which were first introduced in March and due to expire on Sept. 30, creditors cannot issue bankruptcy notices to businesses for debts below A$20,000 ($14,558). The creditors’ notice period to act on debts could also be extending letting many firms keep trading without paying rent, tax and loans.

The poor, small Southeast Asian country of Laos is set to cede majority control of its electric grid to a Chinese company, as it struggles to stave off a potential debt default, people with direct knowledge of the agreement said, Reuters reported. The deal comes at a time when critics accuse Beijing of “debt trap diplomacy” to gain strategic advantage in countries struggling to repay loans taken out under President Xi Jinping’s global “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative.

After more than three centuries in business, the Onuma department store in northern Japanese city of Yamagata began bankruptcy proceedings this year - one of many distinguished department stores across the country in dire straits, Reuters reported. Known for fancy food halls, luxury items, impeccable service and, in their heyday, rooftop attractions to entertain families, Japan’s department stores have been in a long slow decline as shopping habits change. Now the coronavirus pandemic, just as it has forced U.S.

Thousands of employers are forecast to fail within weeks in a new sign of the pressure on jobs as the Morrison government promises a budget plan to lift the economy out of recession, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Insolvency firms are preparing for a spike in the number of companies going broke at the end of this month, when safe harbour rules introduced in March to help businesses hibernate through lockdowns are due to end.

Chinese developers are facing the biggest liquidity test in more than four years, exacerbating challenges brought on by stringent funding restrictions and a prolonged profitability drop, Bloomberg News reported. Cash reserves of the nation’s 50 largest-listed home builders were just enough to cover short-term debt as of June 30, the least since 2016 when China began deleveraging its economy, according to recent earnings data compiled by Bloomberg. That metric fell below 0.5 for eight companies, the most in four years, signaling greater risk.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday asked banks and NBFCs to roll out loan restructuring scheme for COVID-19 related stress by September 15, and provide adequate support to the borrowers following the lifting of moratorium on repayment of debts, The Times of India reported. The minister urged lenders to immediately put in place a board-approved policy for resolution at the review meeting with heads of scheduled commercial banks and NBFCs through video conferencing.