HONG KONG, April 29 (Reuters) - Asian shares rose in early trade on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and as U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled plans for a $1.8 trillion stimulus package.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that “it is not time yet” to begin discussing any change in policy after the U.S. central bank left interest rates and its bond-buying programme unchanged, despite taking a more optimistic view of the country’s economic recovery.
Powell’s comments came before Biden’s unveiling of a sweeping package for families and education in his first speech to Congress.
1 Min Read
MADRID, April 29 (Reuters) - The Bank of Spain called on lenders on Thursday to potentially increase provisions against a likely further rise in bad loans as the macroeconomic setting remains shaky due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Provisions for credit risk in the Spanish business were significant, but this effort should be maintained over time and even increased depending on the efficiency of the support measures and the evolution of the macroeconomic scenario,” the central bank said in its semiannual financial stability report.
It warned of a “very likely” and “significant” increase in bad loans entries in coming quarters, adding that non-performing loan ratios could also rise in coming months, especially in sectors most affected by the pandemic.
2 Min Read
LISBON, April 29 (Reuters) - Portugal will give state guarantees for part of the corporate loans that banks may need to restructure in the sectors most hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as tourism and retail, if companies are unable to start repaying them after September.
Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira said late on Wednesday that “these state guarantees will ease the capital effort that banks will have to accommodate for the restructuring of these loans they agree with their customers”.
The volume of loan repayments suspended by Portuguese banks under a scheme to help businesses through the pandemic reached 24 billion euros in January, or 33.2% of total corporate loans.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
OSLO, April 29 (Reuters) - Budget carrier Norwegian Air expects demand for short-haul travel in Europe to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 or 2024, it said as it presented a first-quarter loss before tax of 1.19 billion crowns ($144.96 million) on Thursday.
The airline earlier this month said it aims to raise 6 billion crowns in fresh capital, up from the 4.5 billion it originally planned, as part of a scheme to emerge from court-ordered bankruptcy protection next month.
Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik
Moody's downgraded the local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings of state-owned bad loan company China Huarong Asset Management on Thursday, citing its "weakened funding profile due to market volatility".