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Bloomberg China’s bank lending and credit provision hit records in March, indicating that government and central bank efforts to boost support for the economy are having an effect. Aggregate financing increased by 5.15 trillion yuan ($732 billion) last month, compared to a median estimate of 3.14 trillion yuan. That was a record for any month in comparable data back to ...

Bloomberg Foreign official holdings of Treasuries stashed at the Federal Reserve declined $21.7 billion during the first week of April, as the economic consequences of the coronavirus roiled governments and central banks around the world. The decrease appeared in the Fed’s weekly custody data, with the latest figure indicating a drop for the week that ended April 8. That’s the ...

Bloomberg Canada’s five biggest banks approved about 69,000 in loans on the opening day of the federal government’s relief program for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. That totals $2 billion if every client took the full amount allowed under the Canada Emergency Business Account, which offers government-guaranteed loans of as much as C$40,000 that are interest-free through 2022. ...

Bloomberg South African banks are pushing for the creation of a loan-guarantee program to boost the flow of credit as lenders ramp up efforts to help clients cope with the coronavirus fallout. The nation is in its second week of a 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, which if extended could further cripple an economy already in recession. ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank is not currently preparing retail banks for the introduction of a negative official cash rate, suggesting policy makers will resist cutting it further for the time being. The main reason the Reserve Bank committed to keeping its benchmark rate at 0.25% for at least a year “was to take away the imminent distraction of needing ...

Bloomberg Lenders face continued difficulties in issuing financing under the $349 billion small business relief effort the Trump administration launched a week ago in response to the coronavirus outbreak, leaving mom-and-pop firms at growing risk of failure. Banks have been intermittently shut out of the government’s loan-processing system. They’re manually filling out forms — and are forced to start over ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration wants the 12 largest US airlines to repay a portion of the federal grants they receive to cover their payrolls during the coronavirus crisis. The large carriers, which are set to receive more than $100 million in payroll assistance, are being offered aid packages that would require them to repay 30% of the grants through low-interest ...

Bloomberg FedEx Corp is redeploying aircraft it mothballed earlier this year and plans to add 150 flights over the next month to ferry masks, protective suits and other healthcare supplies to the US from Asia. The activity adds to the usual seven to nine daily flights across the Pacific, said Richard Smith, chief of FedEx Express operations in the Americas ...

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc deferred the delivery of 24 Airbus SE A320-family jets that were due to arrive over the next three years as the carrier moves to protect cash amid the coronavirus pandemic. The handovers will be postponed to an undetermined date, the British low-cost airline said in a statement. The moves will significantly reduce the low-cost airline’s capital expenses ...

Bloomberg As Covid-19 cases began exploding last month, Quinton Martins thought he was doing the prudent thing by canceling a flight to Mexico for a planned vacation with his wife and daughter. But the Northern California man didn’t realise that by doing so he gave up the right to a refund from Alaska Air — even though taking the trip ...