TikTok’s Ticking Clock, Fed Aid Plan, India Last Option: Eco Day

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

• President Donald Trump said his administration is considering banning the short video app TikTok in the U.S. as one possible way to retaliate against China over its handling of the coronavirus. TikTok said it doesn’t feed user data to China
• Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said officials would likely turn to additional forward guidance and asset purchases if the economy needs more aid, as another official warned of the risk from rising Covid infections
• India’s government is running out of options to fund its budget and may soon have to knock on the central bank’s door once again for support
• President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who belittled the threat posed by the virus while his country racked up the world’s second-most cases and deaths, tested positive for Covid-19
• Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane says the U.K. economy is facing the greatest uncertainty he has seen in his three-decade career, even as the recovery is outpacing expectations
• All it took was missteps in the handling of travelers returning from overseas and complacency in a handful of neighborhoods to plunge Australia’s second-largest city into lockdown for the second time in four months
• The African Development Bank slashed its forecast for economic growth on the continent because of the coronavirus and now sees gross domestic product contracting by at least 1.7% this year
• Farmers in Argentina are worried that wheat price anomalies are a sign the ruling Peronist party is starting to meddle in grain markets just months into its four-year term
• The coronavirus is exacerbating wealth and racial inequalities around the world. Nowhere is that more apparent than in San Francisco
• The pandemic is proving the ultimate test for Singapore, the tiny city-state that has a reputation for reinventing itself during times of crisis

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