Central Bank Pressure, Oil Price War, Japan Fiscal Aid: Eco Day

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Welcome to Monday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the week:

• Global central bankers enter a new week under fresh pressure to outline the next steps in their battle to address the impact of the coronavirus outbreak
• Saudi Arabia plans to boost oil output next month to well above 10 million barrels a day, as the kingdom responds aggressively to the collapse of its OPEC+ alliance with Russia
• Japan’s government will offer financial assistance to small businesses as part of a second round of emergency measures against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said
• In any normal year, China’s political class would be convening around now inside Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to rubber-stamp the year’s targets for economic growth and the policies to make it happen. Instead, the Chinese capital is hushed
• Italy introduced far-reaching measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, including a near-complete travel ban for about a quarter of the population. Yet, it is unclear how strictly they would be enforced
• China’s exports fell more than expected in the first two months of this year as the coronavirus outbreak led to extended holidays, depressed factory output, and blocked transport and movement
• Australia’s fiscal stimulus package to protect the economy against the impact of the coronavirus may run as high A$10 billion ($6.6 billion), as it seeks to protect jobs and business cash flows
• The U.S. and Europe face the “distinct possibility” of a technical recession in the first half as the coronavirus outbreak dampens demand and supply and drives investors to safe havens, according to Pimco’s Joachim Fels
• Philippine central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno’s plate is full as he starts his second year in office
• The first crisis of ECB President Christine Lagarde’s four-month tenure will force her to decide this week whether to fire one of the few monetary-policy bullets she has left
• The two new leaders of the British economy, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and the next Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, inherit the biggest economic threat for a decade. Sunak signaled fiscal rules could be ditched as he prepares a package to tackle the crisis
• The U.K. is the biggest country yet to zoom in on the explosive topic of the pay gap between women and men
• Lebanon is about to enter the crucial first phase of talks aimed at renegotiating its $30 billion in Eurobonds after saying at the weekend it won’t pay dollar debt coming due Monday

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexandra Veroude in Sydney at averoude4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Jackson at pjackson53@bloomberg.net, Michael Heath

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