Headlines

The government is working on a package to restructure loans to the tune of Rs 4,000-5 ,000 crore for the textiles sector but has ruled out a debt waiver, The Economic Times reported. Facing a slowdown, the textiles sector has been saddled with loans and has proposed a four-pronged strategy to deal with the burden, textiles secretary Rita Menon said. It wants the interest rate on the debt to be reset, besides seeking conversion of working capital into fresh debt, which will cost Rs 835 crore.

Last week’s decision by eurozone members to leverage the European financial stability facility will push the eurozone on a divergent path from the rest of the EU, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. The measure is as insufficient as previous “comprehensive plans” to deal with the crisis. But the sceptical reaction of global investors will force further measures. Eurozone members will need the European Central Bank as a lender of last resort. They will move from separate to joint liability of sovereign debt guarantees, possibly leading eventually to a eurozone bond.

The Japanese government is expected to approve financial assistance to Tokyo Electric Power Co. this week, after the embattled utility sought about ¥1 trillion, or about $13 billion, in public funds Friday to deal with compensation claims from the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, The Wall Street Journal reported. The government's objective is to keep the company afloat. Without public funds, Tepco would have to report a capital deficit for the July-September quarter, results of which are due by Nov. 14.

The UAE is in the final stages of framing regulations on insolvency, foreign investment and arbitration, Dr Hadef Bin Jua'an Al Daheri, the UAE Minister of Justice, has told Gulf News. Speaking ahead of the International Bar Association Annual Conference (IBA), which opened in Dubai yesterday, Al Daheri said that the UAE's legal environment has become a role model for the region. "There are some laws that are under study and these include the arbitration law, the foreign investment law and the insolvency law, as well as others.

State-owned Kuwait Airways has delayed plans to privatize the airline and will now push ahead with a restructuring of the ailing carrier, a committee formed for the privatization process said, Reuters reported. The national carrier, which was established in 1954, has been struggling to cut losses and increase revenues amid rising competition from other regional carriers like Dubai's Emirates and Abu Dhabi's Eithad Airways.

The financial turmoil rattling governments and banks in Europe is further weighing on the already-sluggish outlook for business in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported. Even though euro-zone governments' latest package of measures to combat the crisis, agreed upon last week, appears to have warded off a financial crash for now, some damage already was done to many companies in Europe. Growing uncertainty regarding the outcome of the turmoil, coming after the global financial crisis and recession, has caused customers to hold off on purchases.

For the first time, the estimated 700 financial industry lobbyists working in Brussels can now expect to meet with some resistance. Though extremely outnumbered, the new organization Finance Watch is preparing to confront them head-on -- with a former industry insider at its helm, Spiegel Online reported. Indeed, some things will take getting used to in the offices Finance Watch has just leased near the building housing the European Parliament in Brussels. The project is backed by 40 European organizations, including unions, consumer-protection groups, foundations and think tanks.

China is very likely to contribute to the eurozone’s bail-out fund but the scope of its involvement will depend on European leaders satisfying some key conditions, two senior advisers to the Chinese government have told the Financial Times. Any Chinese support would depend on contributions from other countries and Beijing must be given strong guarantees on the safety of its investment, according to Li Daokui, an academic member of China’s central bank monetary policy committee, and Yu Yongding, a former member of that committee.

Top European Central Bank officials offered a skeptical appraisal of Europe's latest plan to solve its debt crisis, suggesting that the central bank may be forced to maintain the emergency measures it has adopted to keep the problems from spreading, The Wall Street Journal reported.

France may unveil a new austerity plan to shore up its public finances as early as next week, a member of the National Assembly's finance commission said Thursday, only two months after the country took emergency measures worth €12 billion to hold on to its prized triple-A rating, The Wall Street Journal reported.