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Pretty much everyone agrees that Greece needs debt relief; what they don't agree on is what debt relief means, Reuters reported today. Easing Greece's fiscal path forward is likely to be the next great struggle in the country's agonizing, seven-year, three-package bankruptcy saga now that a bailout pact has opened the door a crack to discussions on relief. At the last count, the Greek government owed 314 billion euros ($343 billion) despite writing off about 100 billion euros owed to private bondholders in 2012. That's more than the gross domestic product of South Africa. It's also equivalent to around 179 percent of Greece’s GDP, a ratio which despite improvements in the country's economic performance goes up every time lenders make a bailout payment to Athens. This is why debt relief is on the agenda — with Greece perhaps quixotically pushing for something as early as May 22, when the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers meets to sign off on Tuesday's staff-level pact on support for Athens. The battle will be fought on a number of fronts. There is the issue of whether the International Monetary Fund will participate financially in the current, third bailout. The IMF says Greece's debt is unsustainable and it doesn't want to keep throwing money at the problem while that is so. Indeed, it is not allowed to by its charter. The European Union lenders want the IMF involved, primarily because it brings in an outside enforcer. But Europeans themselves have so far refused to say what they plan to do, preferring a general pledge to provide debt relief once certain reform criteria are achieved. Germany, for one, does not want to show this year's voters it is doing Greece a favor using German taxpayers' money.

When the Italian airline Alitalia went bankrupt in 2008, the government swooped in with taxpayer money, and Pope Benedict — a regular rider — offered the carrier a blessing. Six years later, as Alitalia stumbled into debt yet again, the government engineered another rescue, the New York Times reported yesterday. But even a papal decree would not have been enough to save Alitalia from what threatened to be its final stand, as Europe’s most troubled airline filed for bankruptcy once more, this time amid signs that the government, and the Italian people, were fed up with providing it life support. The latest drama over one of Italy’s most visible industrial symbols has plunged the already chaotic political and economic environment into further uncertainty. Uncertainty over the health of the nation’s banks, plagued with 360 billion euros, or about $390 billion, in bad debt, has also been rattling global financial markets. Investors are worried that Italy, a “too big to fail” member of the eurozone, may set off another round of uncertainty for the single currency should new problems in the country’s banking system jeopardize its economy.

Leading European officials hope the deadlock preventing Greece from getting much-needed bailout cash will be broken next month, the Associated Press reported today. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs meetings of the eurozone’s 19 finance ministers, said today that he hoped to report “the successful conclusion of the second review before the end of next month.” Greece has to meet a series of targets to get the money it needs to avoid bankruptcy. Eurozone finance ministers will meet on May 22 to assess Greece’s progress, which has been held up over tax, pension and other reforms.

Italy's economic development minister says that failing airline Alitalia will receive a government bridge loan to keep it operational while a new owner is sought, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Carlo Calenda told Radio 24 on Wednesday that a loan of 300 million to 400 million euros ($326 million-$435 million) would keep the airline flying for six months under receivership. Italy's flagship airline is on the verge of bankruptcy after workers rejected a government-brokered deal that would have unlocked 2 billion euros in investments from its managing shareholder, Etihad, and a consortium of Italian businesses, led by Italian banks UniCredit and Intesa SanPaolo, that holds a 51-percent share.

Trading in Takata Corp shares was suspended today after a report that the Japanese airbag maker at the heart of the car industry's biggest-ever recall is considering a bankruptcy plan that will create a new company and ringfence its liabilities, Reuters reported today. The Nikkei business daily reported that Chinese-owned car parts maker Key Safety Systems (KSS), the company's preferred bidder, would sponsor the turnaround plan by injecting 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) and helping create a new operating company. That money would be transferred to Takata to help settle claims linked to faulty air bags that have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide. Agreement on a restructuring deal, eight years after the first death, would enable Takata to draw a line under the crisis and help it continue supplying replacement air bag inflators, as well as selling seat belts and other vehicle components. In a statement, Takata acknowledged that its steering committee had endorsed KSS as a sponsor candidate, but said it had not reached any decision on its restructuring. Takata has long insisted it prefers a privately arranged restructuring, but the company has reportedly come under increasing pressure from potential bidders and automaker clients to agree to a court-ordered process, which would provide more transparency.