Dalio Backs China, Singapore Scars, $16 Trillion Toll: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Tuesday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said China has an advantage over the U.S. “Time is on China’s side and it’s not on the United States’ side, for various developments,” he said
• Singapore’s central bank chief said as much as 20% of the city-state’s economy faces “deep scarring” from the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank is likely to keep monetary policy unchanged Wednesday as it allows fiscal to do the heavy lifting
• The Covid-19 pandemic will exact a $16 trillion toll on the U.S. when adding the costs of lost lives and health to the direct economic impact, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and fellow Harvard University economist David Cutler
• China has suspended purchases of Australian coal, according to people familiar with the order, as Beijing continues to tightly control imports of the fuel amid soured political relations with Canberra
• After a rapid rebound in the third quarter, the U.S. economy is settling into a more moderate pace of improvement as hiring, spending and travel remain constrained by Covid-19
• U.S. central bankers are reluctant to fire the next bullet in their arsenal, despite uncertain progress in Washington on more fiscal stimulus that they say is vital to support the economic recovery
• ECB top officials amplified their call on governments to keep supporting euro-area economies as they recover from the coronavirus slump, warning against prematurely removing aid
• Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the Bank of Japan is still carefully considering how it should engage in addressing climate change while keeping a careful eye on its impact on businesses
• Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will meet the king on Tuesday in a bid to prove he’s got the numbers to form a new government, even as the current ruling bloc says the move will fail

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