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Defiant ECB, Global GDP Plunge, Bitcoin Comeback: Eco Day

Defiant ECB, Global GDP Plunge, Bitcoin Comeback: Eco Day

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

  • The European Central Bank responded to a German court ruling criticizing its long-standing bond-buying program by pledging to continue doing everything necessary to revive inflation
  • German factories saw demand collapse in March, when measures to contain the coronavirus brought the economy to a sudden halt
  • The biggest bailouts yet are sparking a crisis of confidence in capitalism, Enda Curran and Garfield Reynolds write
  • Bloomberg Economics’ global GDP growth tracker plummeted 4.8% in April, writes Dan Hanson, and what comes next will depend on how quickly containment restrictions are eased
  • Fed No. 2 Richard Clarida mixed a sobering acknowledgment of U.S. economic damage from the pandemic with an optimistic outlook for the second half of the year
  • In Sweden, the Riksbank stepped up its battle against lawmakers, defending its right to buy corporate bonds
  • It’s been left for dead more than once, written off as nothing but a bubble and denounced as rat poison by one of the world’s most famous investors. Yet Bitcoin is once again staging a comeback reminiscent of the token’s glory days
  • Most U.K. businesses could be up and running days after restrictions are lifted, with smaller firms primed to return the quickest, according to the British Chambers of Commerce
  • Turkish policy makers may be getting ready to ramp up their defense of the lira, which is edging toward a record low despite concerted efforts to keep a lid on depreciation
  • Argentina and its biggest creditors have begun ironing out possible revisions to the country’s $65 billion debt restructuring proposal before crucial bond payments come due later this month
  • Supply disruptions that came with the coronavirus pandemic are obscuring the distress among businesses in the two biggest Gulf Arab economies

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