Fed to Zero, Asia in Crisis Mode, Italy’s Finances: Eco Day

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

• America’s central bank thought they had plenty of time to prep for their next encounter with the zero-rate world they escaped with such difficulty after 2008. Coronavirus plunged them back into it well ahead of schedule
• The U.S. economy will contract sharply in late March and April as consumers and businesses slash spending, with the short downturn likely be officially deemed as being a recession, according to Goldman Sachs. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would beg to differ
• The Fed and five counterparts united to ensure dollars keep flowing worldwide after the coronavirus sparked a rush for greenbacks
• Asia-Pacific central banks went into crisis mode after the Fed cut, marking a fresh wave of policy coordination against the mounting risks from coronavirus
• As Italy struggles to control Europe’s biggest coronavirus outbreak, investors are turning their attention to the country’s stressed financial system
• Europeans faced increasingly draconian restrictions on public life as governments tightened border controls and moved to limit damage to the continent’s fragile economies
• Policy coordination against the coronavirus threat may prove a stretch for the system of international cooperation built around the G-7, which has been creaking ever since Donald Trump was elected on his “America First” platform in 2016
• China suffered an even deeper slump than analysts feared at the start of the year as the coronavirus shuttered factories, shops and restaurants across the nation, underscoring the fallout now facing the global economy as the virus spreads around the world
• Every economic shock leaves a legacy. The deadly coronavirus will be no different, changing how we will shop, travel and work for years to come
• Israel’s central bank will begin purchasing government bonds for the first time since 2009 to smooth volatility and boost liquidity
• Three of the biggest Arab economies pledged almost $47 billion in stimulus to limit the economic damage of the coronavirus

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael S. Arnold in Singapore at marnold48@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Alexandra Veroude

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