Headlines

The World Bank has piled pressure on commercial lenders to defer debt repayments owed by emerging economies as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic threatens to plunge them into a “lost decade,” the Financial Times reported. The body’s president David Malpass said he was “frustrated” that some countries could cut back spending on health and education to meet debt repayments, creating a long-term drag on their economic prospects.

Italy, the euro zone’s third largest but most chronically sluggish economy, will soon get a windfall that could transform its fortunes - not necessarily for the better, Reuters reported. As the biggest beneficiary of the European Union’s 750 billion euro ($890 billion) Recovery Fund, Rome believes the cash will help it fix entrenched economic problems and close its decades-old growth gap with the rest of the bloc.

The chairman of cash-strapped HNA Group has been barred from taking flights and high-speed trains and going on vacations due to the Chinese conglomerate’s failure to pay a court-ordered $5,300 in a lawsuit, a court document showed, Reuters reported. The once high-flying company, which owns Hainan Airlines, is in the midst of a restructuring led by the Hainan government to resolve its liquidity risks stemming from years of aggressive acquisitions abroad. The group and its affiliates have delayed payments on a few bond products this year.

Spain’s economy will struggle to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic to such an extent that it will still be as much as 6 per cent smaller at the end of 2022 than it was before the crisis hit, according to the Bank of Spain, the Financial Times reported. In a grim set of economic projections released on Wednesday, the central bank highlighted the destructive impact of both the initial coronavirus outbreak and of the resurgence in infection rates following the end of the country’s lockdown in June.

Global demand for marine fuels is expected to fall by up to 17% due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on world trade, setting the stage for more consolidation among bunker suppliers, an industry executive told a conference on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Banks scaled back on their commodities trade finance after the coronavirus crisis led to defaults by some trading houses and exposed a series of frauds, leaving small and medium sized firms most exposed.

An Indian court has issued a second arrest warrant for a marine refuelling tanker owned by troubled UAE oil trader GP Global after it failed to make payments to its ship manager, court documents showed, Reuters reported. On Sept. 10, the High Court of the western Indian state of Gujrat granted the vessel manager’s, Singapore-based Celestial Ship Management Pte Ltd, a request to arrest the GP B3 bunker tanker for unpaid dues, according to the court documents seen by Reuters.

The supervisor of Singaporean shipping group Xihe Holdings Pte Ltd has put seven oil tankers controlled by the company up for sale as part of efforts to recoup funds owed to creditors, three sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Xihe Holdings is part of the Lim family business empire, which also includes oil trader Hin Leong Trading and fleet manager Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, both of which were placed under court-appointed supervisors earlier this year. The sale includes three crude oil supertankers and is expected to get fully underway in the coming days, the sources said.

A group of Seadrill’s creditors have agreed to let the offshore drilling rig operator suspend interest payments this month as part of an ongoing effort to restructure its $7.3 billion debt, the Oslo-listed company said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Seadrill, which has so far failed to convince its 43 bank lenders to permanently adjust the terms of its loans, reiterated earlier warnings that a debt restructuring could leave current shareholders with minimal or no ownership at all.

The Central Bankruptcy Court decided yesterday that the airline can proceed with its plan to rehabilitate its debt, Thailand Business News reported. The plan is expected to be drawn up by early next year for approval by the court and Thai Airways’ creditors. It needs the endorsement of holders of at least 50% of the airline’s debt. The company, which had total liabilities of 332.2 billion baht at the end of June, faces one of the biggest challenges in its 60-year history as the Central Bankruptcy Court in Bangkok will investigate further in the airline’s accounts.

Pub lobbyists should find out today if their campaign to win Government agreement for a reopening of so-called wet pubs has been successful, The Irish Times reported. Representatives of the wider hospitality sector, meanwhile, have a fine line to walk in the run-up to the upcoming budget between calling for State help and managing the message that many businesses may go bust in the depths of winter. There is widespread belief in the hospitality trade that early January will herald a wave of insolvencies in the sector.