Dalio Bond Warning, China Vast Task, India Contraction: Eco Day

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

• Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio said investors would be “crazy” to hold government bonds now and possibly for years because of money-printing by central banks to rescue the global economy
• The scale of the recovery task facing China’s policy makers will be laid bare Friday when GDP data is set to show an historic slump
• India may be heading for its first full-year economic contraction in more than four decades after extending the world’s biggest lockdown
• The IMF wants policy makers to avoid repeating the Depression-era mistake of cutting budget deficits. Instead, it’s urging them to ramp up fiscal stimulus
• The G-20 leading economies agreed to provide temporary debt relief to the world’s poorest countries and backed an IMF proposal to set up emergency liquidity lines
• The blitz of central bank measures in Asia is far from over, writes Chang Shu
• The U.S. economy went into a defensive crouch as the coronavirus swept through the country, according to a new report from the Fed. U.S. retail sales and factory output posted historic declines in March, and other figures showed that the worst is yet to come
• The Bank of Canada is broadening the range of assets it will purchase in a bid to support the economy
• Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits will continue to run high, as unemployment heads toward 15% in April, writes Eliza Winger. Fed Bank of Atlanta chief Raphael Bostic said many U.S. businesses will struggle as early as next month to survive
• The global pandemic may pose an existential threat to the European project, according to Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz. Meantime, here’s Europe’s plan to get people back to work after Covid-19

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