The projected surge in public deficits caused by the coronavirus pandemic has rekindled concerns about the sustainability of euro-area government debt, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Such concerns are kept at bay for now by the European Central Bank’s massive purchases of government paper through its “quantitative easing” operations. Indeed, as long as public debt stays idle in the ECB portfolio, rollover risks are correspondingly reduced.  But what if inflation were to climb?

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA shareholders approved a restructuring plan that hands almost all of the company’s equity to its creditors, after the coronavirus crisis pushed the struggling airline to the brink of survival, Bloomberg News reported. The plan converts almost $1 billion of debt into stock, qualifying the low-cost carrier for state loan guarantees that, along with the sale of new shares, will keep it afloat for at least several months.

Britain’s biggest care home provider has issued a stark warning that lower occupancy rates and higher staff costs as a result of coronavirus are putting severe pressure on its finances, the Financial Times reported. HC-One said it had faced Covid-19 outbreaks in about two-thirds of its 328 care homes and that more than 700 of its 17,500 residents had died of the virus. The decline in occupancy combined with the increase in costs for essential equipment such as masks and gloves for staff had left it struggling to meet loan repayments.

Greensill Capital, a SoftBank-backed company that says it is “making finance fairer”, has had a string of its clients default on their debts in high-profile corporate collapses and accounting scandals, the Financial Times reported. The London-based finance group, which employs former British prime minister David Cameron as an adviser, arranged funding for scandal-plagued hospital operator NMC Health and controversial “rent-to-own” retailer BrightHouse, which have both fallen into administration in recent weeks.

More than 110,000 small businesses applied for low-cost finance on the first day of the UK’s “bounce back” loan scheme, underlining the demand for credit to survive the coronavirus lockdown, the Financial Times reported. Banks providing the loans said they had approved the vast majority of applications and said the money would arrive in bank accounts as early as Tuesday. Software systems held up despite some banks receiving an application every two seconds. The scheme is aimed at SMEs whose income has fallen because of the lockdown.

Solvency concerns in the developing world are nothing new. But as governments stare down the humanitarian and economic shocks of the coronavirus pandemic, some emerging markets with weak financial positions are at greater risk of defaulting on their debts, Bloomberg News reported. At least 102 nations have already asked the International Monetary Fund for help, and the Institute of International Finance is coordinating an effort to offer some relief to the poorest countries.

Spain scrapped the threat of forced liquidation for companies that run up major losses this year as part of a series of changes announced by the government to stave off insolvencies amid the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. Alongside the adjustment to bankruptcy laws, investors who put money into businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak will also benefit from higher levels of protection in the event the companies fold.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s bad debt provisions increased almost tenfold in the first quarter, as the lender braced for a steep increase in business customers running into difficulties, the Financial Times reported. The bank, which is majority-owned by the UK government, put aside £802m to deal with an expected increase in defaults, compared with £86m in the first quarter of last year. As a result, net profit tumbled 59 per cent to £288m.

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA reached an agreement with bondholders to swap debt for equity, taking the airline one step closer to securing the state loan guarantees needed to keep the struggling carrier afloat, Bloomberg News reported. Such loan guarantees were “crucial to getting through the crisis,” Chief Executive Officer Jacob Schram said in a statement on Sunday. As the airline prepares to hold a shareholder meeting on Monday, Schram said his main priority now is to reach an agreement with the leasing companies that provide their planes.

Over a fifth of the U.K.’s listed companies issued a profit warning in the first quarter of 2020, compared with 17% in the full year of 2008, according to a report by consultants EY, Bloomberg News reported. The economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed up the number of profit warnings in the U.K., with 301 issued in the quarter ending March 31, almost as many as the whole of the previous year, the report stated.