“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it may again downgrade its already pessimistic outlook for the global economy in June given the possibility of a further decline in consumption, more job losses and the risk of a fresh wave of bankruptcies.
“The IMF in April predicted a 3 per cent contraction of the world economy this year. It also warned at the time of the possibility of a deeper crisis which could result in a 6 per cent decline in 2020 and zero per cent growth in 2021.
“”We are putting out new numbers on June 24 and they will likely be worse than what we had in April,” said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath in a virtual address to the Seventh Asian Monetary Policy Forum on (Friday) June 12.”
“Stock markets tumbled in the US and Europe on Thursday amid growing fears over the long-term economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The sell off started after the US labor department announced another 1.5 million people had filed for unemployment benefits and the number of coronavirus infections passed 2m even as states across the US continued to relax their quarantine measures.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/11/us-economy-unemployment-us-states
“Facing budget shortfalls and double-digit unemployment, governors of U.S. states that are COVID-19 hotspots on Thursday pressed ahead with economic reopenings that have raised fears of a second wave of infections.”
“US nonfinancial business debt surged by a record amount in the first quarter of the year as companies loaded up on loans and corporate bonds to protect against economic fallout stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Company debt spiked an annualized 18.8% in the first three months of 2020, according to a Thursday report from the Federal Reserve.”
“Britain’s economy slumped by 20.4% in April in the biggest monthly decline since records began, as the coronavirus lockdown paralysed the country…
“Virtually no area of the economy was left unscathed as people were told to stay at home to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and businesses closed.”
“The owner of British Gas is to slash 5,000 jobs, as the UK jobs market endured another bleak day with chemicals firm Johnson Matthey also announcing the loss of 2,500 staff and Heathrow airport launching a redundancy programme…
“German airline Lufthansa also announced on Thursday that it was cutting 22,000 jobs, half of them in the carrier’s home country.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/11/british-gas-owner-centrica-to-cut-5000-jobs
“Brexit trade negotiations and Covid-19 are “two perfect storms”, a Welsh Government minister has said. Lesley Griffiths, who is responsible for rural affairs, said “the window of opportunity to secure a deal is getting very, very small”.
“The UK is due to leave the EU without a trade deal unless an agreement can be found before the end of the year.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-53006755
“The euro area’s largest economy may be set for an even sharper contraction than was already feared if the latest forecasts from research institute DIW are anything to go by.
“DIW projected that Germany’s gross domestic product could sink by 9.4% in 2020, which would mark the most severe contraction since World War II.”
“Spain’s $6 trillion home market looks headed toward another crash, according to economists who are studying the impact on property demand stemming from Europe’s strictest pandemic lockdown…
““We’re in the prologue of a decline that will only become apparent in September,” said Gonzalo Bernardos, an economics professor who directs the real estate Master’s program at Barcelona University. “By year-end, prices will have dropped by 12%, because this is maybe the sharpest economic crisis we’ve had.””
“Italy’s antitrust regulator said it was probing four financial firms, including the country’s top two banks, for allegedly withholding information and imposing unnecessary conditions on borrowers who wanted to access coronavirus support measures.”
“The European Central Bank will do anything possible to ensure that the current crisis is not made worse by a credit crunch, its chief economist Philip Lane said today.
“He made his comments in an interview in Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper today.”
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0611/1146832-ecb-to-avoid-credit-crunch/
“The coronavirus pandemic has raised the chance Japan’s economy will slip back into deflation as social curbs to halt the spread of the disease hits businesses and consumers, a majority of analysts polled by Reuters said…
““Economic activity has restarted in several phases but there’s still a risk of another wave of infection. That will keep consumers cautious,” said Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at Daiwa Securities.”
“Facing worsening budget deficits, the Saudi government has decided to reduce spending and triple the tax it first imposed in 2018…
“Saudi Arabia isn’t alone in scrambling to find a solution to the consequences of the pandemic… [these taxes] could, in the long run, fundamentally transform people’s expectations of their government, potentially unleashing major geopolitical shifts…”
“Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sacked his unpopular Prime Minister Imad Khamis following days of protests that saw hundreds of Syrians take to the streets over the country’s worsening economic situation…
“No reason was given for the sudden shakeup, but Syria watchers speculate Assad is using Khamis as a scapegoat for the spiraling economic situation.”
“Anti-government protesters took to the streets in multiple Lebanese urban centers on Thursday, setting up burning barricades and forcing road closures as the country’s currency fell rapidly…
“Demonstrators hurled stones at military forces and some protesters attempted to scale a security fence outside the prime minister’s office in the capital city Beirut.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/11/middleeast/lebanon-economic-protests-intl/index.html
“The percentage of Argentines in poverty is expected to reach as high as 45% this year…
“Even before the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed, prompting quarantines and curfews lasting more than three months, Argentina was facing 50% inflation, overwhelming debt and difficulty accessing credit in what economists call its worst crisis in two decades.”
“After seven years of economic collapse, Venezuela’s crisis has entered a troubling new phase. In a nation that’s home to the world’s largest oil reserves, fuel shortages have grown so acute that fields are going bare.
“Venezuela is now on the verge of famine, the International Crisis Group warns.”
“Recessions caused by the coronavirus pandemic are leaving people hungry and raising the specter of famines this year. Unless the world acts immediately, a UN report published this week says, it could spell a global food emergency of a “severity and scale unseen for more than half a century.”
“Although there is enough food to feed the world, not everybody can afford to buy it.”
Some ominous symbolism here:
“As the muezzin called out the adhan daily, thousands of snow-white doves would scatter from one courtyard outside Afghanistan’s famous Blue Mosque to another. However, since the coronavirus pandemic started, the lives of these birds have been greatly endangered.
“The mosque, also called Mazar-i-Sharif, closed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and the doves no longer had anyone to feed them. Since then, more than 1,000 doves have died of starvation, caretakers said on Tuesday, June 9.”
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