Italian government bond yields rose on Wednesday after European Union finance ministers failed to agree a rescue package to help economies recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. Diplomatic sources and officials said a feud between Italy and the Netherlands over what conditions should be attached to euro zone credit for governments fighting the pandemic was blocking progress on half a trillion euros worth of aid.

The German and French economies are in the grip of historic recessions which are set to wipe out many years of growth in only a few months, according to forecasts published on Wednesday as leading bodies warned of the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the global economy and trade, the Financial Times reported.

The Belgian economy could contract by 8% this year due to measures to contain the coronavirus before a sharp rebound in 2021, the country’s central bank and national planning agency said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. That rebound could be as much as 8.6%, although the bank and agency said their figures should be seen as a broad macroeconomic “scenario” rather than a firm granular forecast and that they were based on a number of conditions, with risks.

Ukrainian lawmakers have proposed thousands of amendments to banking legislation required by the International Monetary Fund, threatening to derail an $8 billion IMF aid package needed to fight the economic fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The law, which prevents former owners of banks declared insolvent from regaining their assets, is seen as against the interests of Ihor Kolomoisky, a tycoon and early backer of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 2019 presidential campaign.

Lufthansa will close its Germanwings low-cost airline as part of a broader overhaul including capacity cuts across the group, it said on Tuesday as it warned it could take years for the industry to recover from the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. The group, which also owns the Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings brands, said the coronavirus had forced it to accelerate radical restructuring steps. Its shares were up 1.1% in late trading.

Britain’s financial regulator has said the main objective of its response to the coronavirus pandemic — protecting consumers from harm — will remain its focus in 2021 and into “the medium term”.  In a shorter than usual business plan, published on Tuesday, the Financial Conduct Authority set out four priorities for the future that closely matched the relief measures it had announced in recent weeks, the Financial Times reported.

The eurozone banking system entered the coronavirus crisis in a weakened state with the sector’s profitability declining in 2019 for the first time in three years, according to new data from the European Central Bank, the Financial Times reported. Hit by slowing economic growth and falling interest rates, return on equity at the 113 banks supervised by the ECB fell last year from 6.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent. The least profitable banks by country were in Germany, where the 21 banks tracked by the ECB had an average return on equity of only 0.08 per cent.

Business leaders in the North, including a former DUP economy minister, have warned the Northern Ireland Executive that small enterprises and start-ups are in danger of going to the wall because they cannot access any emergency Covid-19 funding, The Irish Times reported. Simon Hamilton, chief executive of Belfast Chamber, and 11 other business leaders, have written to the North’s economy minister to warn that in every sector in the North there are companies currently struggling to keep their doors open because they have fallen victim to a “funding gap”.

A total of €34 billion has been wiped off the value of Iseq 20 companies over the past three months as the Covid-19 pandemic spooked investors in global equities, The Irish Times reported. AIB and Bank of Ireland are the biggest losers, shedding 69 per cent and 65 per cent of their market values respectively. As a result, AIB’s market value has fallen by almost €6 billion while Bank of Ireland’s has dropped by €3.4 billion. Combined, the State’s two largest domestic retail banks are worth just €9.3 billion.

Finnish department store owner Stockmann has decided to file for a corporate restructuring after the drop in customer volumes caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Monday, sending shares in the company down 32%, Reuters reported. Stockmann said its main creditors had given a positive initial response to the move, which is a form of administration in which a court appointee is charged with restructuring the company to avoid bankruptcy.