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Economics: A manufacturing outlook change for the worse
MEXICO · Report · 23 Mar 2020 · 1 response

Last week’s updated aggregate supply and demand results for 2019, as well as the few indicators for the first months of 2020 released to date, already provided plenty of evidence that the economy was heading in the wrong direction, long before the Covid-19 pandemic began to cast its shadow. Inves...

COVID-19 and the Economy – Reactions in the World and Brazil
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 23 Mar 2020

Governments the world over have uniformly reached decisions to minimize the deaths caused by the pandemic, even at the cost of economic paralysis. The smoothing of the contagion curve sought by social distancing has reduced the stress on the health system of each country, and hopefully will low...

Markets await more bond purchases by the BoI
ISRAEL · Report · 23 Mar 2020

Israel is entering a recession from the partial lockdown due to the coronavirus, with the duration difficult to assess. This supports low inflation (we expect 0.0% in 2020) and looser monetary policy, as well as a more expansionary fiscal policy. Bond yields have spiked, in part due to fiscal de...

Unconventional monetary policy to fight covid-19
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 23 Mar 2020

The Monetary Board approved today the purchase of P300 billion of government securities under a repurchase agreement with the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). In a statement, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the additional liquidity is “intended to provide support for those most affected by the enh...

Georgia declares state of emergency
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 23 Mar 2020

On March 21 the Georgian Parliament voted for a one month state of emergency proposed by the president. The country has 49 coronavirus cases and no deaths to date. The law allows the government to close bars, restaurants and entertainment venues as well as banning gatherings and sports matches. T...

Markets await more bond purchases from the BoI
ISRAEL · In Brief · 22 Mar 2020 · 1 response

Highlights of weekly macro review: Most recent economic indicators refer to pre-crisis and therefore of little value. The PMI (manufacturing) declined in February by 4.8 points to 45.3. All components contracted especially production, employment and domestic orders. The Employment Agency is repor...

Investors remove wealth from Russia
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 22 Mar 2020

In the week leading up to 18 March investors took USD 1.8 billion out of Russia. This is an all time high. Asset flight was provoked by plunging confidence in the country's economic health due to coronavirus and the oil price collapse. Asset flight has happened several times before in Russia. It ...

Essential CIS Politics: March 2020
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 22 Mar 2020

▪ Coronavirus has had a serious impact on almost every country in the region. Some countries such as Russia have taken active measures to contain the disease. ▪ Russia’s fallout with OPEC has led to a precipitous fall in the RUB. ▪ The détente in Eastern Ukraine continues. ▪ President of Ukrai...

COVID-19 and Turkey: Take II
TURKEY · Report · 22 Mar 2020

With 947 cases and 21 deaths having been reported from the virus as of Sunday, we upgrade our assessment for Turkey to a pandemic. Currently, diagnosed cases/tests ratio runs around 9%, with an average of 3,300 tests. As tests increase to 10K a day and encompass high-risk groups, the cases ought ...

Russian maintains key rate
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 21 Mar 2020

On March 20 the Russian Central Bank (CBR) announced that the key rate would be kept at 6%. The rationale was this is to counteract the inflationary drop occasioned by the double whammy of coronavirus and the abrupt fall in oil prices. CBR cut the key rate on 6 consecutive occasions owing to lowe...

Municipal election results confirm victory for the opposition
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 21 Mar 2020

In a context of an increase in the number of positive cases of the new coronavirus, declaration of the State of Emergency, imposition of the curfew and increasing economic paralysis, the Central Electoral Board has published the result of the municipal elections. These confirm victory for the opp...

Covid-19 in Venezuela
VENEZUELA · Report · 21 Mar 2020

Covid 19 is hitting a Venezuelan people already in a precarious state, lacking reliable supplies of basic services such as running water with which to wash their hands, and supplies of essential goods such as … food. It is also hitting a public health system that already was overwhelmed. This pan...

Coronavirus update - the Health Minister's statements and additional measures
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 20 Mar 2020

As of today, according to the Ministry of Health, there are 699 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Brazil, and eight fatalities. It is important to note that the Ministry will no longer release the number of suspected or dismissed cases, only confirmed cases. The Ibovespa closed at 66, 800, down 2...

8pm-6am curfew introduced as positive cases for coronavirus doubles
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 20 Mar 2020

Moments ago, President Danilo Medina signed a decree that set a curfew beginning today March 20 and ending on April 3. The curfew was set from 8pm through 6am. Exceptions were made for health, security, press and emergency personnel. Also the Minister of Public Health announced today that positiv...

​Gulf weekly: Stimulus mixed with spending cuts as oil drops further and COVID cases double
GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 20 Mar 2020

The weekly is a skimmable summary of key developments by country, overlaid with our analysis, the outlook and links to further information. Headlines include: * Active coronavirus cases doubled in the Gulf, stabalizing in Bahrain but quadrupling in Saudi. * $75bn in stimulus measures were ann...