Mar 26, 2020, 14:23 pm
Indicators released on Tuesday showed “an unprecedented collapse” in business from Australia and Japan to Western Europe and the United States.
Major economies Italy, France, Germany and Spain are all deeply affected and have implemented severe social and business restrictions to try to slow the virus's spread, by keeping potential carriers at home.
The eurozone's economic struggle was worsened by some EU member states closing off their borders to neighbors, limiting the flow of goods and people within the single market, Reuters wrote on Tuesday.
EU countries are starting to deploy massive state spending and loan guarantees to prop up businesses and employment, with the EU dropping its strict rules on budget deficits.
Italy believes the eurozone’s bailout fund should be deployed without restrictions within the bloc to manage economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic, its Deputy Economy Minister said on Tuesday.
Italy has borne the brunt of the outbreak in Europe, and Antonio Misiani told Reuters that no conditions should be attached to using the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) fund to combat it - potentially putting Rome at loggerheads with richer northern eurozone nations and some legislators in Rome.
Several Italian lawmakers have also expressed opposition, raising concerns that any kind of ESM support would place tougher fiscal obligations on Rome and impinge on national sovereignty.
IHS Markit said the March figures suggested the eurozone economy was shrinking at a quarterly rate of around 2%, and the escalation of measures to contain the virus could steepen the downturn.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/03/2...ing-Airbus
Quote:"The coronavirus outbreak represents a major external shock to the macro outlook, akin to a large-scale natural disaster," analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note.
Quote:Analysis company IHS Markit said its data showed a slump in the 19-nation eurozone in March "far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global financial crisis", predicting a dramatically abrupt tumble into a certain recession.
Major economies Italy, France, Germany and Spain are all deeply affected and have implemented severe social and business restrictions to try to slow the virus's spread, by keeping potential carriers at home.
The eurozone's economic struggle was worsened by some EU member states closing off their borders to neighbors, limiting the flow of goods and people within the single market, Reuters wrote on Tuesday.
EU countries are starting to deploy massive state spending and loan guarantees to prop up businesses and employment, with the EU dropping its strict rules on budget deficits.
Italy believes the eurozone’s bailout fund should be deployed without restrictions within the bloc to manage economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic, its Deputy Economy Minister said on Tuesday.
Italy has borne the brunt of the outbreak in Europe, and Antonio Misiani told Reuters that no conditions should be attached to using the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) fund to combat it - potentially putting Rome at loggerheads with richer northern eurozone nations and some legislators in Rome.
Several Italian lawmakers have also expressed opposition, raising concerns that any kind of ESM support would place tougher fiscal obligations on Rome and impinge on national sovereignty.
IHS Markit said the March figures suggested the eurozone economy was shrinking at a quarterly rate of around 2%, and the escalation of measures to contain the virus could steepen the downturn.
Quote:Economic analysis firm Capital Economics said the collapse was "so sharp that at any other time it would look like a spreadsheet error".
It said "April's data could be even worse", predicting the eurozone's 2020 first-quarter GDP could plunge by at least three percent from the last three months of 2019.
"That would be similar to the sharpest quarterly fall in GDP during the global financial crisis," it said.
Quote:Analysts at bank ING said the IHS Markit survey "paints a picture of an economy that has ground to a halt".
But while it demonstrated the wide and sudden impact of the coronavirus, it "doesn't tell us much about the depth of the decline".
ING added: "It's still anyone's guess how deep this actually is.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/03/2...ing-Airbus