Headlines

The International Monetary Fund on Saturday denied a report in German magazine Der Spiegel that it was privately pressing Greece to restructure its debt. "As we have said consistently, the IMF supports the Greek government's position of no debt restructuring and its determination to fully service its debt obligations. Any reports claiming otherwise are wrong," an IMF spokeswoman told Reuters. Without citing any sources, Der Spiegel reported that the IMF had reversed its previous opposition to the idea of a Greek restructuring and now believed one was necessary soon.

Families will be hit by a spiralling debt crisis over the next four years that will see average British households plunge further into the red as the government austerity programme bites, official figures reveal, The Guardian reported. The Office for Budget Responsibility has raised its prediction of total household debt in 2015 by a staggering £303bn since late last year, in the belief that families and individuals will respond to straitened times by extra borrowing.

Three of the four NZ-registered companies associated with IT services company DataSouth have been placed in liquidation, The National Business Review reported. A fourth, DataSouth Finance is now subject to a Serious Fraud Office investigation, revealed by the agency late Friday. The investigation relates to lease deals with DataSouth Clients, bankrolled by South Canterbury Finance.

Ireland is on track to nationalize its banking sector after its government uncovered a €24 billion ($33.9 billion) capital shortfall in the latest round of "stress tests" of top banks, The Wall Street Journal reported. That gap will be plugged largely by taxpayers. The likely result will be that the government takes majority ownership of the country's six largest lenders, said Patrick Honohan, the governor of Ireland's central bank. Four of the six banks are already fully, or mostly, nationalized.

Anglo Irish Bank, the dying institution at the heart of Ireland's journey to near bankruptcy, confirmed Thursday an Irish-record 2010 net loss of euro17.7 billion ($25 billion) because of property development loans gone bad, the Associated Press reported. Anglo originally revealed its expected 2010 figures Feb. 8 and Thursday's audited figures contained only minor revisions. They eclipsed the previous record loss in Irish corporate history - the euro12.7 billion deficit that Anglo recorded in 2009.

Ailing Spanish savings bank Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo Thursday began discussing its possible nationalization with the central bank after its merger with three small peers fell apart late Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. A CAM spokesman said the Alicante-based savings bank, or caja, is presenting the Bank of Spain with a new business plan and an application for money from Spain's state-financed Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, also known as FROB.

People looking for a mortgage will have to prove they can repay the loan under a draft European Union law aimed at stamping out the easy lending that fuelled property bubbles in Ireland and elsewhere, the Irish Times reported. The EU's executive European Commission published its proposal today, the day stress tests revealed Irish banks will require to be recapitalised by a further €24 billion. EU internal market commissioner Michel Barnier, who authored the measure, said that during boom times in Europe borrowers and lenders assumed the good times could not end.

British drinks merchant Oddbins said it expects to go into administration on Monday after it failed to get the backing of major creditor Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs for a company voluntary agreement (CVA), Reuters reported. "As HMRC is a significant creditor, this means the CVA cannot proceed and Oddbins is expected to go into administration on Monday, 4th April, following the court hearing of the administration application," the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Priszm Income Fund, which owns more than 231 KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell restaurants in B.C. and Ontario, is under bankruptcy protection following an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, The Vancouver Sun reported. Priszm said in a news release issued this morning that the court filing was made to further its delayed deal to sell its B.C. and Ontario restaurants to a European franchisee of parent comany Yum! Brands. Prizm said the restaurants continue to operate as usual.

Four times in the past two years, Irish authorities have tried to draw a line under their country's raging banking crisis. Now they are hoping the fifth time is the charm. Ireland's central bank on Thursday is expected to unveil the results of "stress tests" of four major lenders, The Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts expect the exams will show the banks need upward of €20 billion ($28 billion) in additional capital. That is likely to leave the Irish government as majority owner of virtually the entire banking sector.