Garuda puts off debt payment again as it faces funding crunch

Garuda Indonesia put off the payment on its Islamic debt once again, highlighting its financing crunch as the firm tries to avoid bankruptcy. The Southeast Asian airline, struggling as the pandemic depresses air travel worldwide, said it “will continue to defer the periodic distribution amount due June 3,” in a filing to the Singapore stock exchange on Thursday. The state-owned company missed the distribution payment on a $500m sukuk on June 3, and a 14-day grace period ended on Thursday. The Sharia-compliant note due in June 2023 has tumbled around 46 cents on the dollar so far this month to a record low of about 30 cents, prices compiled by Bloomberg show. The Indonesian government said early this month that it’s considering a debt standstill for the carrier to allow it to restructure. <br/>