Malaysia

Malaysia will lower its economic growth outlook for this year due to movement restrictions against Covid, the country’s finance minister said, signaling the government may forecast expansion around 4%, Bloomberg News reported. While there’s optimism that the current surge in cases can be contained and lockdowns can be eased, the government still expects to lower its gross domestic product estimate for 2021, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said on Monday.

Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsia X Bhd has proposed a separate restructuring programme for its aircraft lessors that aims to tackle their concerns, citing chance to recover rental losses, a document seen by Reuters shows. The airline, an affiliate of AirAsia Group, has for months been trying to reconstitute 64.15 billion ringgit ($15.89 billion) of debt into 200 million ringgit of debt. More than a dozen creditors, mostly lessors, had intervened in court to challenge a proposal that would have meant a haircut for them of 99.7%.

Most of AirAsia X Bhd’s lessors support a restructuring plan, and the Malaysian airline has received interest from potential investors for fundraising after reorganization, court documents filed this month show, Reuters reported. In emails attached to the court filings, supportive lessors said that they wanted to continue discussions with the budget airline and potential new investors, seeking more equitable terms and new commercial arrangements.

The parent company of Malaysia Airlines said on Thursday it was nearing the end of a debt restructuring process which it hopes will be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year, Reuters reported. Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) said it was in talks with around 40 creditors and lessors to take a haircut in its 16-billion-ringgit ($3.99 billion) debt restructuring plan, adding it was confident it could achieve a “win-win” result for all.

Planemaker Airbus has said it stands to lose more than $5 billion worth of orders if AirAsia X Bhd’s (AAX) debt restructuring scheme goes through, court documents showed, joining more than a dozen creditors that have challenged the Malaysian low-budget carrier’s plan, Reuters reported. Airbus’s challenge comes as AAX defends its scheme from claims by key lessor BOC Aviation (BOCA) that it favoured Airbus and lacked a debt-to-equity swap offer for creditors. In a Dec.