Facing a growing problem of debt defaults, the Chinese government should deploy 100 billion to 200 billion yuan ($16 billion to $32 billion) this year to help restructure indebted companies, a former adviser to the central bank said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. "In the second half of the year, the government should promote debt restructuring in certain sectors," economist Li Daokui said at a news briefing, adding that the funds should be taken from the budget.

Up to 75,000 van and car drivers are being advised to seek alternative insurance cover following the collapse of Dublin-based Setanta Insurance, the Irish Times reported. The insurance firm, which was licensed by the Maltese Financial Services Authority, had been in the process of winding up its business here since January. However, at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, shareholders were told a solvent run-off of the business was no longer possible and a decision was made to immediately dissolve the business.

Shoe Rack plans to seek fresh investment after the appointment of an examiner to the footwear chain, the Irish Times reported. The High Court appointed accountant Anthony Weldon of Kieran Ryan & Co as examiner following a petition from its directors earlier this month. Shoe Rack employs 70 people and operates 10 stores under its own brand and three concessions. It recently closed outlets in Cork and Dublin.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has pledged to do “something” for struggling middle-income earners in the budget despite indications yesterday from his own department that a further €2 billion adjustment would be required to hit deficit targets next year, the Irish Times reported. Speaking at the Oireachtas Finance Committee after the publication of the Department of Finance’s latest Stability Pact Update (SPU), Mr Noonan said he intended to widen income tax bands to take more people out of the higher tax bracket as soon as the State could afford it.

Properties formerly owned by building and engineering group Siac are to be sold after one of its banks took control of three companies split from the group earlier this year, the Irish Times reported. Bank of Scotland has appointed receivers Paul McCann and Stephen Tennant of Grant Thornton to three property-holding firms that formed part of Siac before its rescue from examinership in February by long-standing shareholders, the Feighery family, its directors and two other businesses.

A significant number of company failures are expected to materialise this year, despite new figures showing a continued steady decline in the level of corporate insolvencies during the first quarter of the year, the Irish Examiner reported. According to corporate recovery and insolvency experts, Kavanagh Fennell, the first three months of this year saw a near 13% year-on-year reduction in insolvencies, with 303 failures being recorded compared to 347 for the same period last year.

The rate of jobs growth in Ireland’s post-crash economy is confounding economists, not least because it is coinciding with a contraction in economic growth, the Irish Times reported. In the aftermath of recession, employment can typically lag a recovery in demand as firms expand operations but remain cautious about hiring new staff. This can produce a period of jobless growth - a phenomenon which plagued the Irish economy in the early 1990s when multinationals increased output but unemployment remained stubbornly high.

More people were declared bankrupt in the first three months of this year, than in all of 2013, according to new figures from the Insolvency Service of Ireland. Statistics released today show there were 66 bankruptcies in the first quarter of 2014, compared to 58 for the whole of last year, which had the highest number of new bankruptcies on record. In December the bankruptcy term was reduced from 12 to 3 years, the Irish Times reported. The total debt involved in bankruptcy adjudications in the first quarter of this year was almost €136 million.

Nama hired receivers to some companies controlled by Garrett Kelleher, a developer who planned to build North America’s tallest building in Chicago, according to sources, the Irish Examiner reported. Nama named Mazars to take control of assets tied to Mr Kelleher’s Dublin-based Shelbourne Property Group, said the sources. Nama is seeking to recoup the €71.2bn of loans owed by developers that the agency bought from banks after the country’s property market collapsed.

The Central Bank says it will not disclose how much SME debt has been restructured by the pillar banks, the Irish Examiner reported. In reply to a letter by Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath, Cyril Roux, the deputy governor of the Central Band, said the focus was on securing long-term forbearance arrangements for customers in arrears. The two pillar banks are currently meeting their quarterly targets, he added.