Economic measures: what countries are doing to face the crisis

Tuesday (17) was not so tense in the financial markets.

While the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic remain uncertain and creating tension, measures are being taken.

USA measurements

• In the US, the Donald Trump administration has announced that it intends to send checks to citizens in the next two weeks to alleviate the economic fallout from the pandemic.
• The Fed has announced that it will resume buying short-term corporate debt to ease credit markets.
• US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US intends to keep markets open during the crisis, although shorter opening hours may be needed at some point.
• Trump said on Tuesday he wants a US$ 1 trillion stimulus package.

Measures from other countries

• Central Bank of Turkey anticipated and cut its main interest rate by 1 percentage point.
• The Philippines was the first country to announce an indefinite stock exchange closure, with officials citing risks to traders' safety.
• France, Italy and Spain have restricted trading in equity markets, banning short selling to protect some of Europe's biggest companies. In these operations, traders borrow a company's stock with the view of selling it, hoping to buy it back at a lower price and pocket the difference.
• In Germany, economic sentiment among German investors has fallen to levels last seen at the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, according to a survey by the ZEW institute. Analysts project that the economy will shrink in the first quarter, with a contraction also very likely in the second quarter.
• The governments of France and Italy do not rule out nationalizing companies shaken by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Goldman Sachs has now forecast that China's GDP will grow by 3% in 2020, up from a previous high of 5.5%.
• France has announced that it will inject 45 billion euros into the country's economy, given the expectation that the economy could fall 1% in 2020.
• The Bank of Japan carried out the first 84-day dollar funding operation after central banks this week agreed to offer three-month dollar credit to ease funding crunches.
• Spain has announced a €200 billion aid package to protect jobs and reduce the impact of the epidemic on the country's economy.

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