Headlines

France is warning flag carrier Air France-KLM against making forced job cuts, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire saying such a move would constitute a “red line” the carrier shouldn’t cross after receiving a state bailout, Bloomberg News reported. “We spent money to save Air France,” he said Thursday in a radio interview.

Germany and Deutsche Lufthansa AG are considering cutting back the country’s 9 billion-euro ($10.1 billion) aid package as the airline group closes in on additional commitments from Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, people familiar with the discussion said, Bloomberg News reported. The government is ready to lower the burden for Germany’s taxpayers and is weighing whether to reduce an earmarked 3 billion euros of loans to Lufthansa from the state-run Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau fund, the people said, asking not to be named discussing a confidential matter.

The South African Reserve Bank will resist calls to finance the government’s growing budget deficit with aggressive quantitative easing because that could add even more strain on the National Treasury, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said, Bloomberg News reported. If the central bank were to buy 500 billion rand ($29 billion) of government bonds and then mop up the excess liquidity by issuing bonds at the current repurchase rate of 3.75%, it would be insolvent in about a year, Kganyago said in an online lecture Thursday.

The International Monetary Fund remains in discussions with Lebanon about possible financing arrangements, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday, adding that it was premature to discuss the scope of any potential program, Reuters reported. Spokesman Gerry Rice declined to give any details on reforms the Fund would require before it would authorize a program, but said the Lebanese government needed to implement comprehensive, equitable reforms in many areas. He said Lebanon also needed to reach a common understanding about the source and size of the financial losses it faces.

Sasol Ltd. is reining in oil expansion and considering job cuts as part of ongoing efforts to turn the business around and protect itself from market downturns, Bloomberg News reported. The overhaul at the South African company follows a 50% slump in its shares this year as oil’s crash strained finances already pummeled by cost overruns at a giant U.S. chemicals project. Now it’ll focus squarely on its core chemicals and synthetic-fuels divisions as it seeks to boost cash and bring down debt.

African countries may get debt relief from China more easily than private creditors amid a global push to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on poor nations, a Johns Hopkins University study shows, Bloomberg News reported. China has written off $3.4 billion and restructured or refinanced about $15 billion of debt in Africa over the past decade without slapping penalties or seizing assets from borrowers, it said.

Argentina’s dollar-denominated bonds slipped to their lowest level in three weeks after restructuring talks stalled amid growing animosity between officials and some of the country’s top creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The bonds, which had rallied over the past month on optimism creditors and the government were nearing a deal, fell after the two sides said they were at an impasse. Dollar bonds due 2026 dropped 2 cents to 37.7 cents on the dollar as of 8:49 am New York time, their lowest level since May 28.

Austrian short-haul budget carrier Level Europe plans to file for insolvency, it said on Thursday, becoming the latest airline casualty of the coronavirus crisis despite the financial might of parent IAG, Reuters reported. The small airline, previously known as ANISEC, began operating in 2018. It has six Airbus short-haul jets and is part of IAG-owned Vueling Group. British Airways owner IAG also operates a long-haul airline called Level, which is separate from Level Europe, an IAG spokeswoman said.

South Africa’s state-owned agricultural lender Land Bank is close to finalising a liquidity and debt restructuring plan after it missed loan repayments this year and had its credit rating cut, it said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. A statement from the company said that the plan under discussion with lenders and the National Treasury is intended to raise a 3 billion rand ($174 million) liquidity facility from lenders and extend terms of all debt maturing in the next 12 months.

Argentina’s debt restructuring talks, in a tense final stretch, hit a roadblock on Wednesday with the government determined not to cede further ground after making an improved offer and a key creditor group warning that negotiations had failed, Reuters reported. An Economy Ministry source told Reuters the country was sticking by its latest proposal with a net present value of around 50 cents on the dollar and warrants linked to Argentina’s farm-driven exports. The offer was shared with creditors during recent talks.