//13 March 2020
Italy on 11 March, announced measures worth as much as 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to cushion the blow of the pandemic. Those include help for companies whose turnover has plunged, a moratorium on some mortgage payments, and support for workers facing temporary layoffs and parents who must stay home to take care of kids when schools are closed.
On 12 March, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde unveiled her own stimulus package, but held off on cutting interest rates. When Lagarde said, “We are not here to close spreads,” the Italian bond market plunged and yields shot up by the most ever. By the end of the day, U.S. stocks had registered their worst sell-off since 1987's Black Monday.
The outbreak that started in China in January has infected more than 130,000 people in at least 114 countries and territories, shuttering cities, disrupting trade and supply chains, and shaking financial markets. With Europe facing the prospect of a recession, Italy is at the center of it all. The country’s public debt stands at about 2.4 trillion euros, almost 135% of gross domestic product.
Banks in other EU countries hold almost 450 billion euros in Italian sovereign debt. If the country goes under and those Italian holdings collapse in value, it would shake the foundations of the EU banking system. European banks are worried the crisis could even turn into a global meltdown like 2008. Their concern is that a virus-induced shutdown could spark a wave of defaults among the small and medium-sized enterprises that make up the economic backbone of countries such as Italy and Germany. That would wipe out profits at the lenders and potentially eat up much of the capital that regulators require them to set aside for a rainy day.//
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-13/italy-s-coronavirus-nightmare-offers-a-preview-of-what-s-coming
//14 Apr 2020
With the number of coronavirus infections nearing 2m globally, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday it expected the global economy to shrink by 3.0% in 2020 – with rich western economies set to contract by 6.1% - in the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The European commission urged EU states to develop a uniform exit strategy that was “well coordinated between the member states, to avoid negative spillover effects,” saying that failure to do so could result in new spikes of the epidemic.
Lockdown exit plans
Exit plans begun
Italy: GDP to fall by 9.1% in 2020, IMF predicts. Bookshops, laundries, stationers, children’s clothes stores reopened in some regions; forestry workers and IT manufacturers back at work. Full lockdown set to end 4 May
Spain: GDP to fall by 9.1% in 2020, IMF predicts. Bookshops, laundries, stationers, children’s clothes stores reopened in some regions; forestry workers and IT manufacturers back at work. Full lockdown set to end 4 May
Austria: 7% fall. Public parks, small shops, DIY and gardening supply stores reopened with strict distancing rules and masks. If virus under control, all stores to reopen on 2 May, restaurants in mid-May.
Denmark: 6.5% fall. Daycare centres and primary schools to reopen 15 April, Restaurants, cafes closed and gatherings of more than 10 people banned until 10 May, larger gatherings until August.
France: 7.2%fall. Lockdown extended until 11 May, after which creches and schools to reopen progressively. Bars, restaurants, cinemas to stay closed; large public gatherings banned until at least mid-July.//
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/eu-countries-coronavirus-lockdown-italy-spain
//17 Mar 2020
Global growth may see a 0.4-1.5 per cent erosion, but RBI governor Shaktikannta Das refused to quantify the actual impact on India. As it is, the Indian economy needs no fresh trouble having sunk to a six-year low of 4.7 per cent just last December.
The current slowdown partly worsened due to the government’s rather belated admission of the abundant weakness in the economy, but Das defended that this time it’s different. Efforts were being mounted by the government on war-footing, as Covid-19 could impact India directly through trade channels, in which exposure to China is relatively high, he reasoned.//
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/mar/17/coronavirus-could-dent-economy-admits-rbi-governor-shaktikannta-das-2117511.amp
Italy on 11 March, announced measures worth as much as 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to cushion the blow of the pandemic. Those include help for companies whose turnover has plunged, a moratorium on some mortgage payments, and support for workers facing temporary layoffs and parents who must stay home to take care of kids when schools are closed.
On 12 March, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde unveiled her own stimulus package, but held off on cutting interest rates. When Lagarde said, “We are not here to close spreads,” the Italian bond market plunged and yields shot up by the most ever. By the end of the day, U.S. stocks had registered their worst sell-off since 1987's Black Monday.
The outbreak that started in China in January has infected more than 130,000 people in at least 114 countries and territories, shuttering cities, disrupting trade and supply chains, and shaking financial markets. With Europe facing the prospect of a recession, Italy is at the center of it all. The country’s public debt stands at about 2.4 trillion euros, almost 135% of gross domestic product.
Banks in other EU countries hold almost 450 billion euros in Italian sovereign debt. If the country goes under and those Italian holdings collapse in value, it would shake the foundations of the EU banking system. European banks are worried the crisis could even turn into a global meltdown like 2008. Their concern is that a virus-induced shutdown could spark a wave of defaults among the small and medium-sized enterprises that make up the economic backbone of countries such as Italy and Germany. That would wipe out profits at the lenders and potentially eat up much of the capital that regulators require them to set aside for a rainy day.//
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-13/italy-s-coronavirus-nightmare-offers-a-preview-of-what-s-coming
//14 Apr 2020
With the number of coronavirus infections nearing 2m globally, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday it expected the global economy to shrink by 3.0% in 2020 – with rich western economies set to contract by 6.1% - in the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The European commission urged EU states to develop a uniform exit strategy that was “well coordinated between the member states, to avoid negative spillover effects,” saying that failure to do so could result in new spikes of the epidemic.
Lockdown exit plans
Exit plans begun
Italy: GDP to fall by 9.1% in 2020, IMF predicts. Bookshops, laundries, stationers, children’s clothes stores reopened in some regions; forestry workers and IT manufacturers back at work. Full lockdown set to end 4 May
Spain: GDP to fall by 9.1% in 2020, IMF predicts. Bookshops, laundries, stationers, children’s clothes stores reopened in some regions; forestry workers and IT manufacturers back at work. Full lockdown set to end 4 May
Austria: 7% fall. Public parks, small shops, DIY and gardening supply stores reopened with strict distancing rules and masks. If virus under control, all stores to reopen on 2 May, restaurants in mid-May.
Denmark: 6.5% fall. Daycare centres and primary schools to reopen 15 April, Restaurants, cafes closed and gatherings of more than 10 people banned until 10 May, larger gatherings until August.
France: 7.2%fall. Lockdown extended until 11 May, after which creches and schools to reopen progressively. Bars, restaurants, cinemas to stay closed; large public gatherings banned until at least mid-July.//
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/eu-countries-coronavirus-lockdown-italy-spain
//17 Mar 2020
Global growth may see a 0.4-1.5 per cent erosion, but RBI governor Shaktikannta Das refused to quantify the actual impact on India. As it is, the Indian economy needs no fresh trouble having sunk to a six-year low of 4.7 per cent just last December.
The current slowdown partly worsened due to the government’s rather belated admission of the abundant weakness in the economy, but Das defended that this time it’s different. Efforts were being mounted by the government on war-footing, as Covid-19 could impact India directly through trade channels, in which exposure to China is relatively high, he reasoned.//
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/mar/17/coronavirus-could-dent-economy-admits-rbi-governor-shaktikannta-das-2117511.amp
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