“Millions of people in the region [Africa] are at risk of not getting the food they need due to coronavirus disruptions, according to the United Nations and World Bank.
“While domestic crops and capacity go to waste, the imports the region relies on have also dried up as major suppliers, including India, Vietnam and Cambodia, have reduced or even banned rice exports to make sure their countries have enough food to cope with the pandemic.
“Meanwhile, scarcity has driven up prices of the main staple food beyond the reach of some people since lockdowns were announced in three states at the end of March to tame the spread of the virus.”
“With the holy Muslim month of Ramadan set to start this weekend, authorities in Niger are fearing violence after several cities saw riots over anti-coronavirus lockdowns banning collective prayers…
“In nearby Banizoumbou, housewife Hadjia Aissa said: “They want to keep us from praying during the holy month of Ramadan? It’s not going to happen!””
“Industry bodies estimate only about 20% of India’s roughly 9.8 million trucks are currently operating…
“…hundreds of thousands of drivers, many of whom fear catching the virus as well, have fled to their villages, slowing movement of goods, pushing up freight rates and causing logjams at ports and warehouses.”
“Lebanon’s currency continued its downward spiral against the dollar on Thursday, reaching a new low amid financial turmoil in the crisis-hit country compounded by the coronavirus outbreak.
“The currency crash came as hundreds of Lebanese… crowded outside money transfer offices on Thursday, the last day that authorities allowed dollars to be dispensed in cash to customers following new Central Bank rules.”
“Hunger protests are increasing across Colombia as millions of people find themselves unable to obtain food due to the anti-coronavirus lockdown.
“In the capital, Bogota, scores of people demonstrated outside the office of Mayor Claudia Lopez on Wednesday…”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/hunger-protests-colombia-millions-denied-access-food
“Venezuela saw a spate of protests in several parts of the country on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Protesters looted shops over food shortages and rising food prices, which have been exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak.”
https://www.dw.com/en/man-shot-as-protesters-loot-shops-in-venezuela-food-crisis/a-53227855
“The IHS Market flash purchasing managers index for the service sector [USA] fell to a record low in April, while the manufacturing PMI weakened to the lowest level in 11 years…
“In the manufacturing sector, new orders and output fell to below the nadir of the 2008 financial crisis, noted Michael Pearce of Capital Economics.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-service-sector-pmi-slumps-to-record-low-in-april-2020-04-23
“As the economic shutdown associated with coronavirus prevention measures nears the completion of its first full calendar month, a clearer picture is emerging of just how hard the hit has been to U.S. workers.
“An economy that had been near full employment just two months ago is now in its most dire straits since the Great Depression.”
“Canadian municipalities are asking the federal government for at least $10 billion in emergency funding to cover dramatic revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which advocates for the country’s local governments, says municipal governments are together facing a minimum of a $10- to $15-billion loss in the near term.”
“Britain could be living through its worst slump for centuries, a top Bank of England official has warned after grim economic data showed business activity crashing at its fastest pace on record.
“The closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS Flash UK composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) plunged to a reading of 12.9 for April… Anything below 50 signals a contraction.”
“People were queuing for hundreds of yards at a food bank on the outskirts of Paris as the French capital suffers huge job losses and violent protests amid the coronavirus lockdown.
“In Paris’s working-class suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, the number of people relying on food handouts is soaring as a strict coronavirus lockdown plunges France into its deepest recession since World War Two.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8249293/On-margins-Paris-food-bank-queues-grow-longer.html
“The eurozone could collapse into a fresh financial crisis after devastating falls in output this month…
“Fears are growing over the future of the bloc as an influential survey by data firm IHS Markit recorded a record plunge in activity due to measures to halt the spread of Covid-19. Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) which showed a reading of 13.5 where anything below 50 signals contraction.”
“Even at the June price, the going rate is dangerously low. For the past few years, a worldwide oversupply means oil has been sold too cheaply for producers to extract oil profitably or finance petrostates, such as Saudi Arabia…
“When too many producers wish to sell too much oil, they engage in a destructive race to the bottom.”
“Oil’s collapse will be followed by the “weakest recovery in history,” said The World Bank. The impact of the coronavirus has reverberated from energy to metals to food.”
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/world-bank-sees-lasting-commodities-shock-from-coronavirus
“Russia’s banking system could experience a build-up of bad loans over the coming months because of the coronavirus crisis but might only feel its impact in the final part of the year, a top government official warned on Thursday.
“Russia’s economy is slipping into a recession because of low oil prices and the novel coronavirus…”
“Dubai, the glittering commercial hub of the Gulf, is facing the risk of a debt crisis reminiscent of the 2009 crash that wiped out thousands of jobs and nearly half the value of the emirate’s stock market, economists are warning.
“Only this time, declining business growth over recent years is being compounded by the double whammy of crushed oil prices and global lockdowns…”
““People tend to look backward in history saying CLOs survived the last financial crisis,” said Michelle Russell-Dowe, head of securitised credit at fund manager Schroders. “I am very concerned about that statement. Applying the same logic to the mortgage market in 2008 led people to say that borrowers would always pay back their mortgages before anything else. That historically true fact was not true that time around.””
http://archive.vn/8TYGW#selection-1901.0-1901.422
“Around $1 trillion of debt owed by developing countries would be cancelled under a global deal proposed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Thursday to help them overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The world’s developing economies, which were already struggling with a rapidly growing debt burden, must now confront a record global downturn, plummeting prices for their oil and commodities exports and weakening local currencies.”
“Pummeled into recession by the coronavirus pandemic, the global economy will suffer its steepest contraction on record this year, with a longer, U-shaped recovery more likely, according to Reuters polls of economists from around the world.”
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