Three More Years, BOJ Set To Hold, New Record Slump: Eco Day

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

• Fed officials held interest rates near zero and signaled they would stay there for at least three years, vowing to delay tightening until the U.S. gets back to maximum employment and 2% inflation
• The Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep its stimulus untouched later Thursday
• New Zealand suffered its worst economic slump since the Great Depression in the second quarter
• Prosecutors raided Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and Army Headquarters as part of a probe into whether Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae inappropriately helped her son. It’s drawn parallels to a controversy last year that forced Moon’s previous justice minister to resign -- driving the government’s approval rating to an all-time low
• President Donald Trump said that he was open to more stimulus spending for pandemic relief in stalled talks with Democrats
• The global economic slump won’t be as sharp as previously feared this year, though the recovery is losing pace, according to the OECD
• Employees at the U.K.’s largest firms are about to find out if the government’s controversial decision to end its furlough has cost them their jobs
• The rebound in U.S. retail sales slowed by more than expected in August as federal relief for jobless Americans and small businesses dried up
• Brazil held its benchmark interest rate at a record low and signaled no plans to lift it soon
• A short, sharp downturn, a rapid rebound, and growth that -- even if insufficient to fully recoup lost ground -- moves back in line with the pre-virus pace is the baseline forecast from Bloomberg Economics. It could be much worse, writes Tom Orlik
• The number of countries suffering debt distress is increasing because of Covid-19, and more creditors need to consider cutting nations’ debt stock to prevent “lost decades,” the World Bank said
• Germany’s economy is on the mend but a full recovery will take years, according to Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann
• As countries around the world struggle to shelter their economies from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan is seeing the opposite as the Taiwan dollar, the world’s most stable currency, is shielding vital exports

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