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Village roadblocks in China
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 20 Mar 2020

We conducted a telephone survey about access to seed and other goods through local transport by calling a number of Chinese villages. The data shows modest attempts by local villages to prevent entry, which could affect the agriculture sector. The data set is small but does suggest that there wil...

​Gulf support and stimulus measures target SMEs
GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 19 Mar 2020

Gulf governments and central banks, except for Kuwait, have rolled out their first wave of monetary and fiscal packages in response to the oil slump and coronavirus crisis, totalling at least $75bn, a figure that mixes liquidity support for banks, loan deferrals and fiscal measures such as tax cu...

Coronavirus - latest measures
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 19 Mar 2020

As of today, the Ministry of Healthcare has announced that there are 428 coronavirus cases in Brazil, with suspected cases at 11, 278, dismissed cases at 1,841, and seven deaths from the virus. The Ibovespa closed at 69.389 +3.58 and the dollar stood at 5.1. The business sector is mobilizing t...

Russia grapples with coronavirus
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 Mar 2020

On March 19 Russia announced its first death from coronavirus. The country now has 199 cases. Worryingly, 35% of these cases were diagnosed on March 19. Is the disease spreading or are the authorities getting more efficient at finding infected people?Russia has one of the highest per capita numbe...

The South African Reserve Bank cuts interest rates by 100 basis points amid the Covid-19 pandemic
SOUTH AFRICA · Report · 19 Mar 2020

The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today announced that it is cutting the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points from 6.25% to 5.25%, which means the prime lending rate also goes from 9.75% to 8.75%. This is an especially bold move from the normally c...

From bad to worse
ARGENTINA · Report · 19 Mar 2020

President Alberto Fernández says that now the problem is the economy, rather than the deficit -- meaning that the government will shift to prioritizing the preservation of income of workers and low-income families, and will try to contain the recession.His aim is no different from that of U.S. Pr...

The coronavirus pandemic: Gauging potential shock
UKRAINE · Report · 19 Mar 2020

It makes little sense right now to analyze pre-COVID-19 data and trends. The world is changing dramatically, and very rapidly. The scale of the current storm is difficult to grasp, but we have decided to take the first step in calibrating the potential consequences for Ukraine. The main focus is ...

Russian currency collapse
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 Mar 2020

The RUB lost value on March 19. The Russian Government's effort to halt depreciation has failed. The Central Bank sold foreign currencies in an effort to support the RUB. The Russian Stock Market is down 20% since the beginning of 2020. Aeroflot has fallen in capitalization value from USD 2.2 bil...

The government announced measures to ease Covid-19 pressures
HUNGARY · In Brief · 19 Mar 2020

Following the MNB's call for a debt moratorium and for cheap unsecured loans, the government quickly joined in, by announcing new measures to ease the pressures of Covid-19 on the economy. The measures, announced by PM Orbán personally yesterday, were the following:1. A moratorium for the payment...

COVID-19 strikes Chile
CHILE · Report · 19 Mar 2020

The COVID-19 crisis has rapidly taken over the political and social scene, overshadowing expectations that spring would be dominated by the campaign for an April 26th constitutional plebiscite. Virus cases have climbed from 60 to 238 over the past few days. As elsewhere, it is hard to predic...

Positive cases for COVID 19 increase but overall remain low
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 19 Mar 2020

The number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus in the country has been increasing exponentially. The authorities reported yesterday, March 18, that it amounts to 34, 13 more cases than two days earlier, and 23 more cases than four days ago. However, the overall incidence remains low and co...

China virus check – week of March 16
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 19 Mar 2020

Our latest data for economic activity in China shows: 1) Modest improvement in coal use in the power industry. 2) The growth in traffic congestion is slowing week over week. 3) The decline in expressway traffic is slowing. 4) People using the search term “job recruitment” is rising, b...

​Monetary policy response to covid-19
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 19 Mar 2020

The Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) today introduced a package of measures to help combat the adverse effects of the covid-19 on domestic economic activity. These included: (1) a 50bp cut in the set of policy rates, with the key overnight borrowing and lending rates r...

President Bolsonaro gives a press conference, and more measures to combat the virus are announced
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 18 Mar 2020

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, this afternoon President Jair Bolsonaro gave a press conference, accompanied by ministers who are part of the Executive’s Crisis Committee. The initiative comes after criticism on social media as well as protests that took place against...

100 bp reduction in policy rate and other bold measures in response to COVID-19 threat
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 18 Mar 2020

This morning, the Monetary Board announced a set of measures that seek to reduce the negative impacts of COVID-19 and the policies adopted to reduce the risk of contagion. These are: - 100 bp reduction in the monetary policy rate, from 4.50% to 3.50%, reduction of the repos rate from 6.00% to 4.5...

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