Headlines

Christine Lagarde has called on EU leaders to launch more urgent action to avoid the spread of coronavirus triggering a serious economic slowdown, the Financial Times reported. Speaking on a video call with EU leaders on Tuesday night, the president of the European Central Bank sought to shake them out of what she sees as a complacent attitude to the epidemic, according to a person briefed on her comments.

UK’s Countrywide said on Wednesday a deal to sell its commercial real estate consultancy business has been delayed, sending the debt-laden company’s shares lower, Reuters reported. The sale of Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), which was agreed with Monaco-based entrepreneur John Bengt Moeller in November, would have fetched the British real estate agent 38 million pounds. Countrywide said Moeller had failed to complete the deal by a March 1 deadline, adding that it was looking at legal options to claim costs from him for the delay and for the damages caused.

A plunge in world oil prices and resulting market turmoil has thrust Latin American governments into the unenviable position of trying to shore up their economies without blowing a hole in their budgets or scaring off international investors, Reuters reported. From Mexico to Brazil, many countries in the region are major exporters of crude and other commodities, and have been hit by a triple whammy of oil’s price crash, cratering import demand from major buyer China, and a precipitous fall in their exchange rates.

Seoul-based labor lawyer Lee Seung-yeon’s phone has been ringing almost nonstop since the coronavirus hit South Korea, Bloomberg News reported. One of the calls is from an owner of a restaurant in tourist spot Myeongdong. The restaurateur is thinking of closing his business after revenue dwindled to 200,000 won ($168) a day. Others phone about trouble paying salaries or about getting government assistance. “The situation is really serious,” says Lee.

Argentina’s new Peronist government has been caught off guard by global financial market turmoil at a crucial point in its talks with creditors to restructure more than $100bn of foreign debt, raising the risk that the negotiations could be delayed and result in a messy default, the Financial Times reported. Martin Guzmán, economy minister, has met investors for preliminary talks and was due to unveil the government’s initial offer this week.

Telefonica SA and Telecom Italia SpA’s Brazilian units are working together to buy the mobile operations of Oi SA and end years of failed attempts to consolidate the country’s wireless industry, Bloomberg News reported. Telefonica Brasil SA and Tim Participacoes SA said they’ll will hold discussions on a potential joint acquisition of all or part of Oi’s mobile assets, which Bradesco BBI estimates may be worth at least 12 billion reais ($2.6 billion).

Saudi Arabian banks may pay the biggest price among their regional peers as the kingdom escalates an oil-price war, Bloomberg News reported. Lenders in the world’s largest oil exporter, already dealing with a fragile economy, now have to contend with plummeting crude prices -- which could lead to more problem loans -- and the fallout of the coronavirus that’s closed the kingdom’s schools and limited cross border movement. A surprise interest rate cut last week also means profit margins are under pressure.

Rishi Sunak balanced a warning of severe disruption to the UK economy from the spiralling coronavirus epidemic with a multibillion pound package of emergency measures aimed at keeping the UK’s 6m small and medium-sized businesses afloat, the Financial Times reported. A £1bn government-backed emergency loan scheme, reimbursement of sick pay costs, suspension of business rates for retail and leisure outlets, and a £3,000 cash grant to the smallest of businesses were among the temporary initiatives introduced by the new chancellor to address strains that companies across the coun

The move by banks to force Cineworld's top shareholder to refinance a loan without equity collateral is yet another sign of mounting stress in Europe's junk debt market as the coronavirus roils markets and businesses around the world, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Oman is in talks with banks to raise around $2 billion in loans, sources familiar with the matter said, as part of plans to manage an estimated $6.5 billion fiscal deficit that may widen due to plunging oil prices, Reuters reported. Oman, one of the weakest economies in the oil-rich Gulf region, has piled up debt in recent years to offset the impact of falling crude revenues. Its debt to GDP rate soared to nearly 60% last year from around 15% in 2015, and according to S&P Global Ratings it could reach 70% by 2022.