‘V’ Is for Vaccine, U.S. Stalling, Hong Kong Disaster: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help take you through to the weekend:

• Asia has a warning for those expecting a V-shaped global recovery: Exports from the giant hub of manufacturing continue to slump
• The official numbers are starting to confirm that the economy is buckling once again, with jobless claims rising last week for the first time since March
• Hong Kong’s economy, meanwhile, just can’t catch a break
• Less than four months before the U.S. election, President Donald Trump has made his tough China policy a centerpiece of his campaign to stay in power. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has been a leading advocate, casting China’s leaders as tyrants
• New Zealand’s central bank may come under pressure to provide more monetary stimulus, including negative interest rates, as a stronger-than-expected currency pushes inflation toward zero
• Overstretched health services and social-distancing to combat coronavirus are boosting telemedicine across Asia, a phenomenon likely to continue even after the pandemic has been controlled
• President Donald Trump said that the trade accord with China means “much less to me” because of what he called that country’s role in the spread of the coronavirus
• The fiscal response to the Covid-19 recession is running out of steam just as the rising virus case count impinges on the recovery, writes Andrew Husby
• Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he will vote against Judy Shelton, one of two Trump administration nominees to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors
• The ECB is restarting its strategic review that will now include a closer look at the impact of fiscal policy in the euro area
• This is what top economists take from the Covid-19 crisis in terms of the generational implications of closing down economies, Stephanie Flanders and Lucy Meakin explain in this Podcast
• Saudi Arabia gained no financial reward in the first full month after ending its oil-price war with Russia
• South Korea warned that Japan risked reigniting tensions if it didn’t acknowledge past forced labor abuses, saying it was prepared to hold Tokyo to account for its colonial behavior

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