“World powers clash and coronavirus stirs anger at virtual U.N. meeting… Kept apart by a devastating pandemic and dispersed across the globe, world leaders convened electronically Tuesday for an unprecedented high-level meeting…
“As Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the first virtual “general debate” of the U.N. General Assembly, the yawning gaps of politics and anger became evident. China and Iran clashed with the United States — via prerecorded videos from home — and leaders expressed frustration and anger at the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic…”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/09/23/world/politics-diplomacy-world/us-china-coronavirus-un/
“Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration still supports another stimulus package that includes direct payments.
“Mnuchin and Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the economy needed another stimulus package to keep it afloat.”
“There have been 180 bankruptcy filings [in the US] so far this year, putting 2020 on track to surpass the worst year ever—2009, when there were 271 bankruptcy filings.
“Equally troubling is the increase in the default rate for loans and bonds.”
“A quarter of British pubs and restaurants fear collapse before Christmas…
“As fresh analysis showed that more than £750m of late-night revenues could be affected by the imposition of a 10pm curfew in England, hospitality businesses said they have been “teetering on the edge” and now face the prospect of going under.”
“The economic cost of a no-deal Brexit could be two or three times as bad as the impact of Covid, a report has concluded.
“Analysis by the London School of Economics and UK in a Changing Europe says “a no-deal Brexit would represent a further major shock to a UK economy” with a “major set of changes” to the economic relationship with the country’s largest trading partner.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/23/no-deal-brexit-will-cost-uk-more-than-covid-report
“German cabinet approves second-highest net new debt since World War Two in 2021 budget…
“It comes after the German government already took on record high borrowing of some €218 billion this year.”
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0923/1166976-german-net-debt-levels/
“Deutsche Bank is planning to cut one in five bank branches in Germany as the Covid-19 emergency drives more customers online and as the country’s largest lender strives to return to profitability.
“The bank announced on Tuesday it would close about 100 branches across the country, reducing the total number of domestic branches to about 400.”
https://www.ft.com/content/fc1988d2-213f-491e-9194-5e2e91f8ea67
“The economic recovery in the eurozone took a hit in September after a new rise in coronavirus cases, according to purchasing managers data released on Wednesday…
“…the composite PMI just barely was above the 50 mark indicating improving conditions, at 50.1.”
“Thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Bulgaria on Tuesday – the country’s Independence Day – calling on the prime minister and the chief prosecutor to step down…
“The predominantly young protesters say they want real steps to limit corruption and are fed up with the ruling style of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov…”
“International healthcare companies are struggling to reclaim around $2.3bn in debts owed to them by Turkey’s state hospitals, a senior US official has revealed, as he warned of the dangers posed to the Turkish economy by an unpredictable investment environment…
“The Turkish Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
https://www.ft.com/content/5c294d63-08af-4f8c-87aa-5c6f1fb1810c
“Lebanon on edge as armed clashes escalate…
“With Lebanon in an economic freefall that has pushed more than half the population below the poverty line and left them facing renewed political turbulence, analysts have warned that the country is on the verge of becoming a failed state.”
https://www.ft.com/content/a98e949b-6133-46e5-a9b6-738c0712d54d
“With No Clear Goal for Second COVID Lockdown, Israeli Economy Could Spiral Out of Control…
“The coronavirus cabinet is scheduled to convene Tuesday to decide whether to make the lockdown more stringent and further reduce economic activity.”
“The sudden outbreak of protests has become the norm in Egypt despite the repressive measures taken by its military-led autocratic regime, which comes down heavily on dissenters…
“But Sisi’s iron-fisted approach has failed to extinguish the nation’s smouldering rage. The country is currently gripped by protests…”
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-are-anti-sisi-protests-growing-in-egypt-39995
“Nigeria Unexpectedly Cuts Key Rate on Recession Threat…
“The Central Bank of Nigeria’s surprise interest-rate cut on concerns of a looming recession may be insufficient to boost growth in Africa’s largest economy.”
“The leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo appealed Tuesday before the UN General Assembly for debt relief…
“”In order to help developing countries exit the crisis and fare better after Covid-19, the international community’s efforts must include debt cancellation and other relief so they can better recover,” President Felix Tshisekedi said.”
https://www.france24.com/en/20200923-dr-congo-leader-urges-debt-relief-over-pandemic
“Zambia has asked investors in its US dollar bonds to accept delays in their interest payments into next year, in what would be the first African debt default on private creditors since the pandemic.
“President Edgar Lungu’s government said on Tuesday that it was seeking “the suspension of debt service payments for a period of six months” from holders of its $3bn worth of international bonds, beginning in October.”
https://www.ft.com/content/0b744d46-46b1-48c3-81cd-be0d78d99262
“Uganda’s public debt surged 20.5% in the 12 months to June as the east African country soaked up new credit to help deal with the economic impact of COVID-19, the central bank said on Tuesday.
“The new loans mostly came from international lenders including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”
“US dollar bond defaults by Chinese firms have jumped threefold to US$12 billion so far this year from US$4 billion for all of 2019.
“Market confidence has been shaken, triggering a shortage of dollar liquidity that is limiting some firms’ ability to pay down debt.”
“Fitch Ratings has downgraded Laos’ rating to “CCC” from “B-,” meaning that the Southeast Asian nation faces “substantial credit risk” and that default is a “real possibility,” according to the agency’s definition.
“It is rare for a sovereign nation to be rated in the “C” class.”
https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Laos-credit-downgrade-signals-real-default-risk-as-China-looms
“Singapore’s main price gauge contracted for the seventh consecutive month in August, data showed on Wednesday, with prices falling 0.3% from a year earlier.
“Core inflation – the central bank’s favoured price measure – was expected to fall 0.4% based on eight economists’ forecasts. The gauge had fallen 0.4% in July after entering negative territory in February for the first time in a decade.”
“…with the global tourism industry paralysed by the coronavirus pandemic and 13 million tourism workers now unemployed in Indonesia, seaweed farming in the Penida Archipelago is back in vogue.
““When COVID-19 hit, the locals reverted immediately back to it,” Senyk said.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/23/seaweed-keeps-islanders-afloat-amid-bali-tourism
“Japan’s factory activity extended declines in September largely due to a sharper fall in output, as the world’s third-largest economy struggles to stage a robust recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was largely unchanged at 47.3 in September compared with a final 47.2 in the previous month.”
“Argentina’s economy likely contracted around 20% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, hit by the coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide lockdown imposed in March, economists polled by Reuters estimated ahead of the official data release on Tuesday.
“That would be the worst quarter since at least the 1980s…”
“Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday all “countries that defend peace” should rally against U.S. sanctions clamped on the South American country…
“Maduro has overseen a six-year economic collapse in the once-prosperous OPEC nation…”
“The impact of the coronavirus pandemic means Latin America is now facing its third “lost decade” of the last half century.
“This is the warning by 21 of the region’s former presidents in a recently published manifesto in which they also highlight the “latent risks” that emergency responses by governments to the pandemic could lead to “a serious deterioration of democracy”.”
“Airline Avianca Holdings came under broad criticism in Colombia for paying its top two executives $6 million in bonuses in May, at a time when the carrier had furloughed most of its employees without pay and was preparing a bankruptcy filing…
“On Wednesday, Avianca defended the bonuses, saying they were necessary “as an incentive for the company’s management team to continue to provide services to Avianca.””
https://ca.reuters.com/article/us-avianca-bankruptcy-labor-idCAKCN26E3A7
“Time Is Running Out For Lawmakers To Save Airline Industry And Jobs…
“U.S. airlines remain in critical condition, and demand for air travel remains well below its pre-Covid levels. Domestic air travel is down 63 over year-ago levels and U.S. airline carriers have grounded nearly 1,800 aircraft that were in use earlier this year. International air travel has fallen 84 percent.”
“Because Covid-19 is global, it often shreds all a family’s safety nets at once. Worldwide, the disease will push 71 million into “extreme poverty”, below $1.90 a day, predict World Bank economists.
“This will be the first annual increase in global poverty since the 1990s.”
https://www.ft.com/content/f3e7f472-03f8-4368-b287-55886670bcd7
“Returning to normal by 2021: a dream… The world economy is in total disaster in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic…
“High debt to GDP level, particularly household debt, is a burning problem around the globe. The World Bank has already warned that global debt is already at its highest in 50 years…
” To hope that banks will allow debt-ridden consumers to borrow at a fast pace again in 2021 is… unrealistic.
“It should be clear by now that any assumptions of returning to 2019 levels can be made on paper to yield favourable economic projections. But the underlying environment of financial and labour markets in the real world is contrary to such assumptions.”
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1990751/returning-to-normal-by-2021-a-dream
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here and visit my Patreon page here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a ‘Climate’ round-up.
