IMF Meeting, Trump’s Future, German Fiscal Firepower: Eco Day

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

• Watch out for video-conferenced meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that get under way on Tuesday. The world’s ability to fully recover from the worst peacetime recession since the Great Depression may depend on what international economic policy makers decide this week
• Some battleground states crucial to President Donald Trump’s political future are being particularly hard hit by the coronavirus crisis, a development that could decimate his central argument for re-election at a critical moment
• Brazil’s economic team wants to adopt a flexible fiscal target for 2021 as uncertainties caused by the novel coronavirus make it difficult to estimate the impact of the crisis, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter
• Europe is heading for a double-digit slump in the first half of 2020 amid widespread lockdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus, according to Bloomberg’s monthly survey economists.
• Italy’s companies and small businesses desperately need the 740 billion euros ($807 billion) the government pledged to keep the economy afloat. By the time the money arrives, it might be too late
• Now that Germany is deploying its financial firepower to fight the coronavirus crisis, convincing the country that it was wrong to shun budget deficits for many years just got even harder
• China’s trade performed better than expected in March, with both exports and imports declining less than expected even as the coronavirus prompted business shutdowns around the world

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