Italy’s Extra Spending, Brexit Heartlands, SNB’s Battle: Eco Day

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

• Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will likely seek parliament’s approval for about 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in extra spending soon, government officials said, in the latest step to revive one of Europe’s most vulnerable economies
• The Brexit-supporting regions that propelled Prime Minister Boris Johnson into power are now being disproportionately hit by coronavirus and will bear the brunt of the economic fallout. Elsewhere, Johnson’s pledge to U.K. pensioners could be at risk
• The Swiss National Bank looks like an oasis of calm compared with other central banks, but behind the scenes it’s been waging a furious battle with investors
• Poland may be opening a new line of defense for the pandemic-hit economy after cutting interest rates to near zero
• The Bank of Israel wants a primarily fiscal response to the Covid-19 crisis, and will provide support including expanding a record bond-purchasing commitment if needed to keep borrowing costs low
• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is testifying before Congress this week in hearings mandated by a 1978 law that was meant to prevent mass joblessness and dissolve racial inequality. Neither has happened
• Powell said the U.S. economy may be entering a period of significant improvements in employment, but one that will leave the labor market “well short” of the robust levels seen just before the coronavirus pandemic
• A little over three years ago, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer politely flagged America’s concern about a widening trade imbalance with Vietnam. The U.S.’s goods trade deficit with Vietnam is some 63% wider now
• Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S., a long-standing point of contention with President Donald Trump, has plunged to a record low as the coronavirus pandemic freezes demand for Japanese cars

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