MACRO ECONOMIC NEWS

PATIENCE, PEACE, AND PRECAUTION ARE PRIME PROTECTION. WISHING A PRETTY WEEKEND AHEAD.

Macro Economic News 28 Mar 2020

Central bank ramps up efforts to stop coronavirus triggering a credit crunch in Europe although public finances will be driven deep into the red as government tackles the pandemic. ECB orders banks to freeze dividends and share buybacks while RBI joins coronavirus fight and calls for ‘war effort’ as coronavirus shuts down country, providing much-needed shot to infuse Rs 3.74 lakh cr liquidity into financial system with big-bang rate move, reducing CRR and putting EMIs on hold although Indians are locked down with Rs 23L cr cash. FED officials are reviewing new ways to support financing for state and local governments, many of which are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic and will face huge borrowing needs as revenues plunge. Trump Signs $2 Trillion coronavirus stimulus package into a law a sweeping relief bill that House lawmakers had hustled back to the Capitol to pass quickly, overcoming one GOP member’s last-minute move to delay the legislation. OECD predicts that measures to curb the coronavirus could lower economic activity in the U.S. and other developed countries 20% to 25%. U.S. consumer sentiment hits near 3-1/2-year low and Moody's cuts India's economic growth in 2020 to 2.5% from 5.3% while ICRA expects GDP is likely to grow just 2% in 2020-21.

FINANCIAL TIMES

[I]  ECB orders banks to freeze dividends and share buybacks

[I]  Top of Form

Sunak adds extra £60bn public spending to fight coronavirus

[I]  Top of Form

US stimulus alleviates panic but lull may just be temporary

[I]  Top of Form

The global health emergency makes trade more important, not less

[I]  Top of Form

Heavy take-up of Fed swaps eases strains on dollar

[I]  Pandemic is causing the biggest disruption in decades to economies across the world

[I]  Top of Form

German labour market freezes, adding to Europe jobless worries

[I]  India cuts benchmark rate to lowest level on record

[I]  Top of Form

Farmers warn over food supply with harvest workers shut out

REUTERS

[I]  India cuts rates as distress mounts across South Asia

[I]  Bruised Indian economy to be battered further by coronavirus: Reuters poll

[I]  RBI takes steps to counter economic impact of coronavirus

[I]  Historic $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill passes U.S. House, becomes law

[I]  Coronavirus cases top half a million, protective gear lacking - WHO

[I]  As U.S. virus cases exceed 100,000, doctors decry scarcity of drugs and equipment

[I]  Saudi Arabia says no talks on new oil deal, Moscow suggests larger OPEC+

[I]  Graphic: Cash handouts and bond buying: $10 trillion-plus deployed against virus

[I]  A U.S. recession? Probably. Depression? Only if the virus is untamed 

[I]  U.S. consumer sentiment near 3-1/2-year low, spending tepid

BLOOMBERG 

[I]  Stimulus Propels Stocks to Best Week Since 2009: Markets Wrap

[I]  Oil Drops Fifth Straight Week on Heightened Supply-Demand Shock

[I]  South Africa Gets Full House of Junk Ratings as Moody’s Cuts

[I]  U.K.’s Credit Rating Cut Because of All the Money It’s Spending to Fight the Virus

[I]  Fed Set to Dial Back Pace of QE Treasury Buying Next Thursday

[I]  Oil-Industry Collapse Accelerates as Scores of Rigs Go Dark

[I]  Alternative Lenders Halt Redemptions, Signaling Mortgage Cracks

[I]  One Corner of U.S. Oil Market Has Already Seen Negative Prices

WALL STREET JOURNAL

[I]  Fed Considering Additional Support for State, Local Government Finance

[I]  Trump Signs $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Package

[I]  Coronavirus Measures Could Cut Economic Activity by a Quarter, Report Says

[I]  How Fast the Economy Crashed and Washington Responded—in Charts

[I]  Pennsylvania, With Most Jobless Claims in U.S., Could Foretell High Numbers Elsewhere

[I]  Regulators Adjust U.S. Bank Capital Requirements to Encourage Lending

BUSINESS LINE

[I]  Allow us to work with half the regular workforce: Exporters to Centre

[I]  BS-IV: SC breather for auto makers

[I]  Covid-19 lockdown: Over 15 lakh trucks, 35 lakh drivers stuck on roads without support

[I]  Moody’s slashes India GDP growth in 2020 to 2.5%

[I]  India Inc enthused by RBI decisions but want quick transmission

ECONOMIC TIMES

[I]  Forex reserves fall the most since 2008 crisis

[I]  The world is staring at an oil storage problem

[I]  The RBI's Covid loan breather, decoded

[I]  Covid: Indians are locked down with Rs 23L cr cash

[I]  RBI provides much-needed shot in the arm to corporate debt market

[I]  RBI to infuse Rs 3.74 lakh cr liquidity into financial system

[I]  GDP likely to grow just 2% in 2020-21: Icra

[I]  Moody's cuts India's economic growth in 2020 to 2.5% from 5.3%

[I]  RBI joins coronavirus fight with big-bang rate move, EMIs put on hold

BUSINESS STANDARD

[I]  SBI cuts lending rate by 75 bps as RBI introduces liquidity package

[I]  Covid-19: Cognizant to give 25% extra pay to two-thirds of India workforce

[I]  Covid-19 relief: RBI cuts repo 75 bps; defers term-loan EMIs for 3 months

[I]  Moody's slashes India's GDP growth rate to three-decade low of 2.5%

[I]  Coronavirus impact: Comparing India's economy in the 2 major crisis periods

[I]  RBI relief package to help sustain businesses during coronavirus: Bankers

[I]  Corporate bonds get Rs 1-trn relief as coronavirus ignites large sell-offs

Best Regards, ARBIND

28 Mar 2020