Dimon on Downturn, IMF Dollar Program, Japan Hits Gas: Eco Day

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

• JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon said the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a major economic downturn mirroring the meltdown that hit the U.S. financial system in 2008.
• The IMF may launch a new program to help address the global shortage of dollars, providing a backup to the Fed’s campaign to keep greenbacks flowing around the world economy
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declare a state of emergency in seven prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka, and announced a record stimulus package. Meantime, there was a smaller decline in household spending amid hoarding of toilet paper and necessities
• The Fed said it will create a program to speed the flow of funds to small companies through the government’s coronavirus stimulus
• China’s policy makers have so far been remarkably restrained on stimulus, writes Chang Shu. There’s more to come, but they are taking a more measured approach. David Qu writes that the economy is 90-95% back to normal as bottlenecks emerge
• Indian workers paid $4 a day are trapped between hunger and the coronavirus
• Christine Lagarde was barely four months into the ECB presidency when she sat down at her dining room table, two iPads and two phones at hand, and told her colleagues it was time to unleash massive stimulus. The ECB dived into the fight with more than 30 billion euros ($32 billion) of bond purchases last week
• One of the first countries in Europe to shutter its economy may soon be ready to start the slow road back to normal life
• When the coronavirus outbreak triggered travel bans during the Lunar New Year holidays, about 100,000 Chinese students were stranded at home and unable to return to Australia. Siqi Li, a 23-year-old Master of Science student from Guangdong province, was one of them

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