Headlines

While struggling companies in advanced economies received aid to cushion the pandemic’s blow, cash-strapped developing countries have provided minimal or no support, the Wall Street Journal reported. Banks are wary about giving loans to such businesses, which they see as riskier than large companies. Many small and midsize businesses have gone belly up, said Richard Bolwijn, who heads the investment research branch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. In the developing world, “no recovery can take place” unless these businesses revive, he said.

Pakistan will cut taxes on imports of raw materials to spur manufacturing and overall economic growth, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trade adviser, Bloomberg News reported. Customs duties on input items needed by pharmaceutical, chemical, engineering and food processing industries will be reduced by 3% to 10%, Abdul Razzak Dawood, Khan’s adviser on commerce, said in an interview by telephone. That will help lower the import of finished goods, encourage local production and put the nation in a position to boost exports, he said. “Pakistan had ridiculously high duties,” Dawood said.

Dubai-based Emirates REIT withdrew the restructuring proposal for its $400 million Islamic bond after a group of investors successfully opposed the deal, Bloomberg News reported. Emirates REIT said Monday that 57% of sukuk-holders who voted were in favor of its exchange offer. It said that 79% of its bondholders cast votes, without providing further details. The outcome fell short of the 75% the fund required to push through the proposal. As a result, it rescinded the plan but vowed to continue exploring options to improve the REIT’S sukuk and equity trading.

China Evergrande Group, the country’s most indebted developer, reversed losses in Hong Kong trading after the company clarified that operations remained normal and it was compliant in dealings with a banking unit, Bloomberg News reported. The shares rose as much as 3.7% on Monday afternoon after earlier sliding 5.3%. In a statement, Evergrande said various “rumors,” including that it was resorting to widespread price discounts, were false. Chinese developers are facing a slew of measures to curtail risks in the sector, with regulators monitoring everything from bank lending to land sales.

Peru’s currency and stocks tumbled after incomplete results of Sunday’s presidential runoff showed the leftist candidate gaining momentum even as he trailed by a thin margin in the count, Bloomberg News reported. The sol headed to its biggest drop in more than a decade at one point and the S&P/BVL Peru General Index fell as much as 6.8%, the most since November, with mining companies and financial firms among the hardest hit. Overseas bonds edged lower in light trading while the cost to insure against a default climbed.

In mid-March, shares in ViacomCBS Inc. and Discovery Inc. rocketed skyward. That was great news for Bill Hwang. His firm, Archegos Capital Management, had borrowed billions from Credit Suisse Group AG to make wagers on a handful of stocks, including the entertainment companies, according to a Wall Street Journal reported. As is standard practice, Archegos had handed over cash to Credit Suisse to secure its bets. With the stocks more than doubling since the start of the year, Archegos asked for some of that money back, and it was credited.

Oman has started talks with banks for a potential Islamic bond sale this year, Bloomberg News reported. The Gulf nation’s discussions are still preliminary. Oman last tapped the international debt market in January, when it raised $3.25 billion. The country’s debt is rated junk by all three major credit assessors. Oman’s public finances, long among the weakest in the Gulf Arab region, remain vulnerable to oil-price swings and disruptions from the global pandemic.

Latam Airlines Group SA Chief Executive Roberto Alvo, seeking to stave off an overture from rival Azul SA, said the bankrupt air carrier’s Brazilian operations aren’t for sale, Bloomberg News reported. Santiago-based Latam, which has now been in U.S. bankruptcy for more than a year, has its sights set on a strong chapter 11 exit -- not a piecemeal sale of the business, Alvo said in an interview Wednesday. The carrier’s shares briefly slumped last week after it denied reports that Azul SA planned to buy Latam’s Brazilian subsidiary.

Defunct Jet Airways, which is undergoing insolvency resolution for nearly two years, cannot claim "historicity" for slots at airports, and allocation of slots will be based on existing guidelines, according to an affidavit, the Times of India reported. The civil aviation ministry and aviation regulator DGCA have also informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that for claiming historicity, the criteria cannot be based on contention that airline was in operation for 25 years.

China’s HNA Group Co. said that nearly 67,400 creditors are seeking a total of 1.2 trillion yuan ($187 billion), according to a person who attended the conglomerate’s online meeting for creditors on Friday, Reuters reported. The company has confirmed 405.7 billion yuan in claims as valid and has rejected 353.5 billion yuan in claims, the person quoted Ren Qinghua, the head of HNA’s liquidation team, as saying. Another 156.5 billion yuan in claims are being assessed as part of a preliminary review while some claims have yet to be reviewed, added the person.