French economy set for two-year recovery June 9, 2020 France’s economy will not rebound to pre-coronavirus levels until 2022 as it continues to suffer its worst post-war recession, the central bank said this morning. The Eurozone’s second largest economy is set to contract 10.3 per cent this year, the Bank of France said. However, it will begin to return to health next year, with [...]
World Bank: Coronavirus to hit economic output by 5.2 per cent June 8, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic will cause global economic output to contract by 5.2 per cent in 2020, the World Bank has said, as more than 90 per cent of the world’s economies have fallen into recession. Advanced economies are expected to shrink seven per cent in 2020, the Bank said in its Global Economic Prospects report. [...]
BoE: Furlough means UK faces record labour market inactivity June 8, 2020 The UK is facing what appears to be a record level of inactivity in its labour market as huge numbers of people are on furlough or facing unemployment due to Covid-19, the Bank of England’s chief economist has warned. “We’ve seen activity across the economy collapse, and we’ve seen a rapid rise in inactivity among [...]
Eurozone investor morale improves as bloc ‘wakes from deep sleep’ June 8, 2020 Investor sentiment in the eurozone has risen this month and an assessment of investor expectations hit its highest level since November 2017, according to a new survey. Sentix’s index for the euro zone rose to -24.8 from -41.8 in May, compared with the Reuters consensus forecast for a reading of -22.5. The research firm’s current [...]
Ifo: German industry predicts summer-long production slump June 8, 2020 German factories’ coronavirus slump is set to continue throughout summer, though the drop in production will not be as steep, according to a key Ifo survey out today. The Ifo index of production survey showed Germany’s manufacturers believe their severe coronavirus downturn will continue until at least September. They predict a hit of minus 20.4 [...]
World shares rise as shock US jobs increase spurs recovery hopes June 8, 2020 World share prices edged higher on Monday after a surprise recovery in US employment provided optimism that economies could quickly recover after lockdown. Oil prices erased earlier gains to stand almost flat after OPEC and its allies, including Russia, agreed to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July. U.S. S&P 500 futures [...]
Coronavirus is a ‘devastating blow’ to the economy, says World Bank chief June 7, 2020 Coronavirus is a ‘devastating blow’ for the global economy, according to the president of the World Bank. David Malpass, an economist who has run the bank since last year, also said the fallout from the pandemic could last for a decade. Last month he warned that the coronavirus crisis could push 60m people into “extreme [...]
‘Mind-blowing’: US economy adds 2.5m jobs as states reopen June 5, 2020 The US unemployment rate has fallen significantly even as coronavirus ravages the economy, shocking economists who were expecting it to surge. The unemployment rate dropped to 13.3 per cent – still extremely high by historical standards – in May from 14.7 per cent in April. This confounded analysts who had predicted it would surge to [...]
BoE governor Andrew Bailey: Fiscal stimulus should keep climate change in mind June 5, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said stimulus packages from governments to tackle the coronavirus fallout should improve sustainability so as to help tackle climate change. In an opinion article with former governor Mark Carney and other central bankers, Bailey said countries should “build back better” after coronavirus, with green goals in mind. Yet [...]
Chancellor picks Richard Hughes as next head of budget watchdog OBR June 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has nominated an International Monetary Fund (IMF) adviser and former government as the next head of the UK’s budget watchdog. Richard Hughes, who currently also works as a research associate at the Resolution Foundation think tank, said he was “honoured” to be picked as the next chair of the Office for Budget [...]