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The date of the meeting of the Finance Ministry of Ukraine, the IMF and the Creditors' Committee on restructuring Ukraine's debt obligations hasn't been agreed yet, according to a letter released by the committee which Interfax-Ukraine has acquired, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. "Arrangements are also being made for a meeting between the Committee, Ukraine and the IMF in Washington to take place as soon as possible. No date for this meeting has yet been agreed despite Ukraine's public statements to the contrary.

China is bailing out the nation’s heavily indebted local governments, relying on trusted methods to keep its financial system stable despite promises to allow market forces to play a greater role, The Wall Street Journal reported. Beijing is permitting provinces to issue at least 2.6 trillion yuan ($419 billion) in bonds in 2015, the first local government issuances in more than 20 years, to stave off a debt crunch. Local administrations have accumulated some 18 trillion yuan, equivalent to a third of China’s economy, in bank loans and bonds to fund risky land and property deals.

Employers’ group Ibec has warned the Government not to legislate against minimum hour or flexible contracts, saying such a move could be detrimental to the economy, the Irish Times reported. Danny McCoy, Ibec ’s director general, was responding to claims by trade unions that uncertain terms of employment are exploiting workers. Mr McCoy also said that the tradition of a single job with a single employer has become “exceptional,” adding that full-time contracts in the past have allowed for people being kept in work despite lower demands for services.

When, as now appears likely, Greece financially separates from Europe it will at one level be no one’s fault, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. The Greek leaders will rightly explain that having imposed more austerity on themselves than any industrialised country has suffered since the Depression, they could not have done more without light at the end of tunnel in the form of a clear commitment to debt relief. European leaders will rightly explain that they adjusted their positions repeatedly to accommodate the Greeks.

As Greece teeters on the brink of a eurozone exit, jittery investors have been trying to second-guess the consequences for other peripheral members of the single currency. They might do better looking closer to the source of the problem, the Financial Times reported. While government borrowing costs for Spain, Italy and Portugal have risen as the spectre of a Greek default draws nearer, it is the geographically closer economies of central and eastern Europe that will suffer the most in terms of economic activity, according to analysts at UBS.

Brazilian engineering and construction conglomerate OAS S.A. late on Friday unveiled a restructuring plan to a Sao Paulo court, the latest step in a plan to avert bankruptcy amid a corruption scandal at Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Reuters reported. The plan, which still needs approval by the court, laid out two scenarios for the restructuring of about 8 billion reais ($2.5 billion) in debt, both counting on proceeds from asset sales and a debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan. OAS had until June 22 to present a plan.

In a related story, the International New York Times reported that Brazilian police on Friday arrested one of the country’s richest men, Marcelo Odebrecht, as the fallout broadens in an investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant Petrobras. The investigation, which is looking into whether subcontractors may have colluded with top Petrobras executives to overbill the company and pay bribes, has touched the highest levels of government and business. In the latest development, Mr.

The European Central Bank has sanctioned further support for the Greek banking system amid fears for its stability, ahead of Monday’s crucial EU leaders’ summit, the Irish Times reported. The ECB agreed at an emergency meeting on Friday to raise the cap on funding for the Greek banking sector, according to reports. The ECB move came as German chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief-of-staff said Berlin will work “until the last minute” to secure Greece’s future in the euro zone.

Ukraine has offered to issue securities linked to future growth in return for private creditors accepting a writedown in debt, in proposals aimed at breaking a deadlock over debt restructuring. Kiev confirmed on Friday that it would continue to service its debt, including making a $75m coupon payment due on Saturday on a $3bn Russian bond. Markets had speculated that Ukraine’s government might impose a moratorium. But people familiar with the talks warned that Kiev was prepared to suspend debt servicing if a restructuring deal could not be reached within weeks.

European leaders will try again in an emergency summit meeting on Monday to break the deadlock between Greece and its international creditors after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers ended on Thursday with no deal on Greece’s bailout, the International New York Times reported. Without additional aid, Greece faces the prospect of effectively going bankrupt by the end of June, when it owes a payment of 1.6 billion euros, or about $1.8 billion, to the International Monetary Fund, and when the European part of its bailout program ends.