Headlines

Canada’s malls are facing a wave of skipped rents and could see vacancy rates triple by year-end, with the coronavirus poised to leave its scars on a fragile retail sector long after the pandemic ends. In the country’s enclosed regional malls -- a category that includes Toronto’s Eaton Centre and Pacific Centre in Vancouver -- only 20% to 25% of tenants paid rent in April, according to brokerage firm JLL Canada, Bloomberg News reported. Big box shopping centers and community strip malls took in only a little over half their expected rent.

European markets are hoping the ECB, again facing the task of rescuing the euro zone, will soon add junk-rated company debt to its stimulus programmes, but some investors say such a bold move might prove counterproductive, Reuters reported. Since the fateful ‘whatever-it-takes’ moment in 2012 - when its then president Mario Draghi pledged to save the euro at any cost - the European Central Bank has shown a readiness to cross red lines whenever the bloc’s economy is in trouble.

Argentina’s latest effort to restructure its overseas debt probably won’t be its last, according to Harvard University economist Carmen Reinhart, who has sounded alarms over coming emerging markets crises in Venezuela and Turkey, Bloomberg News reported. If anything, she said in an interview, Argentina’s initial offer merely kicks the can down the road. It will need to be revisited in a few years given the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, she said.

India is considering a proposal to guarantee as much as 3 trillion rupees ($39 billion) of loans to small businesses as part of a plan to restart Asia’s third-largest economy, which is reeling under the impact of a 40-day lockdown, people with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. Under the proposal, small firms will be eligible to borrow an additional 20% of their credit limit, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The extra debt will be fully backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, the people said.

Singapore has long touted itself as the ideal home for a commodity trading house, with low taxes, light regulation and a view of one of the world’s busiest shipping channels, Bloomberg News reported. That hard-earned reputation is now taking a hit after a spate of financial scandals and failures, culminating in the dramatic demise of Hin Leong Trading Pte, the fabled marine fuel trader that has confessed to hiding about $800 million in losses and selling off oil inventories that were backstopping loans.

Dubai is in talks to raise billions of dollars of debt privately instead of following Gulf neighbors by tapping public markets, as the emirate looks to bolster its finances and mitigate the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The Middle East’s main business hub is discussing loans and private placements with around a dozen international and domestic banks, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Norwegian Air Shuttle has warned that the bulk of its fleet is likely to remain grounded for the next 12 months and that a full recovery would not take place until 2022, laying bare the scale of the crisis engulfing the airline industry, the Financial Times reported. As part of a planned $1.2bn debt-for-equity swap to try to ensure the low-cost airline’s survival, Norwegian said on Monday that its base case was that its fleet would remain fully grounded until April 2021, apart from the seven aircraft currently flying in Norway.

Bondholders to U.K. discount retailer Matalan have hired advisers as the company draws up plans to raise additional funding to cope with the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, Bloomberg News reported. Creditors will work with financial adviser Perella Weinberg Partners Group LP and law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP in the coming weeks, Matalan said in a statement Monday. The retailer said it’s too early to specify the amount of funding required but guided that 60 million pounds ($74 million) could be sufficient to help the business get back on its feet.

Nigeria’s central bank took 1.47 trillion naira ($3.8 billion) from lenders as additional cash reserves for failing to meet regulatory targets, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The accounts of almost 30 commercial lenders held with the central bank were debited by the regulator for missing thresholds on cash-reserve and loan-to-deposit ratios, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. The lenders are appealing the move, they said.

Lebanon’s prime minister launched a scathing attack on central bank Governor Riad Salameh over the sharp depreciation of the pound on the unofficial market amid the country’s worst ever financial crisis, Bloomberg News reported. “There is a dilemma in the suspicious and mysterious way the central bank governor is dealing with the deterioration of the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound, and that’s causing the collapse,” Hassan Diab said in a televised address from the presidential palace.