Bloomberg Pravin Gordhan, South Africa’s minister for public enterprises, is staking his own credibility and that of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government on the creation of a new airline out of the ashes of the bankrupt national carrier. Hit by the loss of the country’s last investment-grade rating on its sovereign debt and the Covid-19 pandemic, Ramaphosa has said hard choices …

Bloomberg Italy’s shoppers may be digging out their wallets as retail businesses reopen on Monday, but many of the country’s 2.7 million merchants say there’s little to celebrate. “My creditors will be all over me as soon as I raise my portcullis,” said Giulio Anticoli, referring to the heavy medieval grates still used to protect some storefronts in Rome. “There’s …

Bloomberg The administrators of Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd have shortlisted a small number of bidders for the airline after receiving more interest than they anticipated. Deloitte spent the weekend reviewing indicative offers for the carrier from interested investors and has narrowed the field to a small number of well-funded parties with strong aviation credentials, according to a statement on Monday. …

Bloomberg Stocks climbed in Europe alongside US equity futures on Monday as investors found reason for encouragement in signs businesses are reopening across major economies and after shares sank last week. Crude oil advanced. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose on gains in mining and travel shares, including airlines IAG SA and Ryanair Holdings Plc. S&P 500 contracts increased after …

Bloomberg India’s rupee declined the most in two weeks, and stocks fell as investors were unimpressed by the government’s economic stimulus package. The rupee weakened as much as 0.5% in the third day of declines. The S&P BSE Sensex of stocks slid 2.8% at 2:50 pm in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index slipped by a similar magnitude. Both …

Bloomberg The government of Nigeria, whose revenue could be slashed by more than half this year due to the oil-price slump, finalised plans for a revised budget that keeps spending almost intact, and that will mean more borrowing. Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed got approval from the West African’s nation’s cabinet to go ahead with the new budget that cuts expenditure …

Bloomberg In brokering the end to the global oil-price war last month, the Trump administration assured leaders that America’s shale patch would throttle back production. But few expected that the cuts would run this deep — and happen so quickly. Drillers are laying down rigs and shutting in wells at a frantic pace in response to the plunge in oil …

Bloomberg Mexico has fast-tracked measures granting more authority to the state utility at the expense of clean energy companies, ignoring regulator and industry concerns over the economic and environmental impacts of the new measures. The proposal by the Energy Ministry was approved and published in Mexico’s official gazette. It comes after the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement, known as Conamer, …

Bloomberg Banks in Asia’s financial hubs such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. are finding that the disruption from the coronavirus outbreak is helping them push back on a threat from a new breed of virtual upstarts. With branches shut, customers social distancing and fearful of tainted cash, the brick-and-mortar giants are seeing a surge in demand for digital …

Bloomberg Don’t let anyone tell you regulators haven’t punished Wells Fargo & Co. — or at least its shareholders. The scandal-ridden bank has lost $220 billion in stock-market value since the Federal Reserve imposed an unprecedented cap on the firm’s assets in early 2018, crimping its ability to add customers and loans. The constraints are biting harder this year as …