Simultaneously grappling with surging deaths from Covid-19, recession and a weak currency, Brazil at least won’t have problem finding dollars to pay for imports and service its foreign debt in the aftermath of the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. As Brazilians stop traveling and spending money abroad, the country’s long-running current account deficit is narrowing fast and could even become a surplus this year. In April alone, it was a positive $3.8 billion, the highest ever according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

LATAM Airlines, the largest Latin American air transport group, had losses of $2.12 billion in the first quarter after an accounting adjustment of its assets amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company said in a statement late on Friday, Reuters reported. LATAM said its operational quarterly result was 17% higher year-on-year despite the fact that in March it reduced its offer of flights due to the first effects of the health crisis.

LATAM Airlines Group’s U.S. bankruptcy filing this week will delay its potential bailout in Brazil to at least July and also push back aid to its rivals at least through the end of June, two sources said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The delays will add further strain to Brazil’s airlines, which were already in weak shape before the pandemic. Rivals Azul SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA are also negotiating bailouts. “The bailout will happen; what could happen is that it may be staggered due to LATAM’s situation,” said one source.

Creditors of Odebrecht’s ethanol unit Atvos have approved a restructuring plan, the Brazilian firm said in a statement late on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Under the plan, Atvos expects to reduce its net debt to three times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operational profit known as EBITDA, from the current six times, as it will transfer 46% of its debt to a new vehicle. It will start paying small suppliers in 90 days. Remaining creditors will start receiving partial payments in 2022.

Bunge’s Brazil unit has signed a contract to acquire two soy crushing plants from Imcopa, according to a statement sent to Reuters on Wednesday, marking another step to consolidate its position as Brazil’s largest soybean crusher, Reuters reported. Imcopa, which is operating under bankruptcy court protection, confirmed the signing of the contract and said the aim of the sale is to keep the plants running and protect jobs, according to a separate statement. Bunge said regulatory approvals for the transaction are still pending.

At least two Brazilian airlines and planemaker Embraer SA have hired investment banks to help with talks with state development bank BNDES for government support, sources with knowledge of the matter said, Reuters reported. Embraer has hired Itau BBA, the investment banking unit of Itau Unibanco Holding SA, two sources said. Embraer is seeking credit lines between $1 billion and $1.5 billion after a deal with Boeing Co fell through. Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported earlier on Wednesday that Embraer hired Itau BBA.

A previously unreported Brazilian court injunction last month has thrown a wrench into Bunge Ltd’s plan to take over two soy processing plants from local crusher Imcopa, according to court filings seen by Reuters. The injunction was granted on behalf of two Panamanian entities identified in the filings as “third parties,” Reuters reported. It effectively suspended a bankruptcy court auction in which Bunge had bid a combined 50 million reais ($9.16 million) for the plants. The Feb.

Creditors of Brazilian corruption-ensnared conglomerate Odebrecht SA have approved debt restructuring plans of 12 of its subsidiaries, after an online assembly that lasted more than eight hours, Reuters reported. Odebrecht’s lawyer Eduardo Munhoz said the plans approved on Wednesday represent the restructuring of more than 99% of the 53 billion reais ($9.7 billion) of the conglomerate’s debt. Percentages of creditor approval were high for all companies with votes on Wednesday, he added.

Via Varejo SA, one of Brazil’s largest appliance retailers, is seeking to suspend rent payments for over 1,020 stores to help offset a 50% revenue drop, two people with knowledge of the matter said, Reuters reported. One of the people said the company has already reached an agreement with some landlords and expects to get group agreements with other retailers that would exempt it from paying rent on its stores located in malls for as long as they are shut by the coronavirus lockdowns.

Brazilian businesses, desperate for government aid to weather the pandemic, aren’t getting much help from a state lender that used to shell out more than the World Bank, Bloomberg News reported. In past crises, state development bank BNDES would have been quick to flood the market, swelling its loan books by 30% a year to keep the economy afloat. Now, the bank’s top executive -- tasked with dramatically scaling back the state’s role -- has to navigate a world where governments are suddenly turning on the fiscal taps like never before.