“India has entered into the first recession in its history, as Covid-19 continues to ravage economies across the developing world.
“The gross domestic product of the world’s second-most populous nation contracted by a record 23.8 per cent in the three months until the end of June, and a further 8.6 per cent in the quarter until September, according to the Reserve Bank of India.”
“India’s finance minister on Thursday announced a $35.14 billion package to stimulate the economy by boosting jobs, consumer demand, manufacturing, agriculture and exports hit by the coronavirus pandemic…
“The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet approved nearly 2 trillion rupees ($27 billion) in incentives over five years to manufacturers in 10 sectors, including automobiles and auto parts, pharmaceuticals, textiles and food products.”
“Nearly a third of South Africa’s workforce was unemployed in the third quarter of 2020, a 12-year high, as the continent’s most advanced economy was battered by the Covid pandemic, according to government figures released Thursday.
“Between July and September, the jobless rate surged by 7.5 percentage points to affect 30.8 percent of the workforce, the national statistics agency StatsSA said.”
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/africa-jobless-rate-hits-12-125355915.html
“‘I need money for school’: the children forced to pan for gold in Zimbabwe…
“…with Zimbabwe’s public education system collapsing and the pandemic taking a wrecking ball to their parents’ economic opportunities, children are spending whole days at the Odzi river, panning for gold or fishing for an evening meal.”
“Zambia’s government said it would miss a Friday deadline to clear debt owed to external investors who rejected the country’s request for deferral of an overdue $42.5 million interest payment.
“The southern African country had to pay up by Saturday to avoid becoming the first African nation to default amid the coronavirus pandemic after repeatedly failing to win a six-month holiday from eurobond holders…”
“The five largest producers of crude oil in Africa face a combined production decline of 19 percent as a result of the pandemic’s effect on oil demand and the acceleration of energy transition efforts, according to a new report by PwC.
“…the pandemic has caused the worst oil industry crisis in history and that oil demand will likely never recover to pre-pandemic levels.”
“Argentina hiked interest rates on Thursday, November 12th, after monthly inflation accelerated to the highest level this year, a move aimed at bolstering peso savings and reining in prices amid a wider economic crisis.
“The central bank raised the benchmark Leliq rate to 38 percent from 36 percent…”
“Fierce clashes in Peru between police and protesters have wounded at least 11 people, doctors and rights groups said on Friday, as thousands of Peruvians took to the streets to protest against the ousting of President Martín Vizcarra.
“The clashes… are piling pressure on a fragmented congress and the new government of Manuel Merino.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/13/peru-protests-impeachment-president-martin-vizcarra
“Up to 15 million Americans face a devastating loss of pandemic stimulus ‘the day after Christmas’…
“The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs are set to expire at the end of 2020, leaving around 15 million jobless workers without any unemployment benefits unless Congress steps in.”
https://money.yahoo.com/15-million-americans-face-a-loss-of-pandemic-stimulus-221322561.html
“US Home Prices Are In a Bubble. Full Stop: Rapidly rising housing prices in the U.S. has led to talk of another housing bubble like the one that helped trigger the financial crisis a little more than a decade ago…
“It’s implausible that housing prices can go up from here without large increases in rents, which require increases in demand for housing. That’s an unlikely outcome in a recession.
“If the recession continues, where will new demand come from?”
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2020-11-13/housing-market-s-p-e-ratio-is-in-the-stratosphere
“Canadian firms continue to struggle as debt loads and uncertainty mount, according to a survey by the country’s statistics agency.
“About 44% of businesses say they’re unable to take on additional debt, while almost a third don’t know how long they can continue to operate at existing revenue and spending levels, Statistics Canada said Friday.”
“The U.K. may have posted its sharpest-ever economic rebound in the third quarter, but its recovery is trailing well behind rest of the world’s industrialized nations.
“The coronavirus is also sapping demand for temporary workers in Europe…”
“Germany’s protests against coronavirus restrictions are becoming increasingly radical…
“The developments point to an increasingly radicalized movement of virus skeptics in Germany, embraced by the country’s far-right extremist groups and energized by global conspiracy theories, notably those put forth by the U.S.-born QAnon movement.”
“Hit by the worst recession since its civil war more than 80 years ago, Spain is one of the countries struggling hardest with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite a superstrict lockdown in April, May and June, the country is experiencing fresh outbreaks that are impairing its efforts for a faster economic recovery.”
https://www.gfmag.com/magazine/november-2020/hard-hit-spain
“The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing Ukraine towards its worst recession in decades and may push over nine million people into poverty, according to a recent UN study.
““Reportedly, more than 80 per cent of households have lost income, and over 40 per cent have at least one family member who has lost a job since the beginning of the pandemic,” reads the UN report.”
“Authorities in Belarus have ordered banks to seize money raised in small donations and paid out as compensation to victims of a police crackdown on protesters.
“The funds were transferred to people who were beaten or fined after taking part in ongoing demonstrations against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.”
“The coronavirus is taking a toll on even countries hitherto considered economically sound.
“After easing its fiscal rules and raising taxes, Russia is running out of options to give a fillip to public finances strained by the pandemic and the collapse in the price of oil, its main export.”
https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2020/11/13/russia-desperate-to-bolster-virus-hit-finances
“Russia’s southern region of Ingushetia is about to become the first ever region in the country to go bankrupt, independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported Wednesday.
“The region’s debt has soared to 125% of its annual income thanks to spiralling costs incurred by tackling the coronavirus pandemic. Russia’s regions are running out of money…”
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/11/12/russias-ingushetia-region-on-brink-of-bankruptcy-a72025
“A Chinese mining firm that defaulted on its debts this week held an emergency creditors’ meeting on Friday to address potentially “huge credit risks”, as a series of defaults by top-rated state-owned enterprises (SOEs) sent shockwaves through China’s corporate bond market.”
“… the recent delinquencies triggered a selloff in debt issued by state firms in impoverished provinces, raising fears of a brewing credit crisis.”
“A number of Chinese banks are cutting their holdings of corporate bonds, with some focusing on notes sold by state-owned firms, after a string of defaults roiled the market, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“Japan is trying to encourage mergers among its ailing regional banks by introducing a sweetener for those that cut costs. Other advanced economies should pay attention: Rock-bottom interest rates mean Japan’s present is likely to be their future…
“After 30 years of falling and even negative interest rates, many of Japan’s regional lenders have share prices of 0.2 to 0.3 times their book value—levels that would have been considered catastrophically low even a few years ago.”
“Japan’s two biggest banks on Friday both reported first-half profits that tumbled by more than a third on a surge in costs from bad debts, highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s third-largest economy.”
“Global economic recovery is under threat due to the resurgence of coronavirus infections in Europe and the US, according to international rating agency Moody’s…
““A tentative economic recovery is underway but the path is beset by uncertainty,” said the report.”
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/virus-hit-europe-us-imperil-world-economic-recovery/2042910
“Central banks are miles from the exit ramp for the tremendous stimulus they’ve pumped into the economy. If anything, increased support is far more likely.”
“In April I predicted that “this pandemic will lead to social revolutions.” What we’ve seen so far is only the start.
“Despite new hopes for a vaccine, Covid-19 will now enter its deadliest phase in many regions entering winter. Even after we defeat the virus, many of its effects will linger for years.
“Like turpentine on flames, Covid-19 has rekindled older divisions, resentments and inequities across the world.”
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here and visit my Patreon page here. I’ll be back on Monday with a ‘Climate’ thread – Iota, now unprecedented 30th named storm of Atlantic hurricane season, now due to strengthen into major hurricane and hit Central America.
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