Small-Business Warning, Argentine Debt, EU Stimulus: Eco Day

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

• Americans’ opinions about the state of the economy, which collapsed with the onset of the pandemic in March, stopped falling about a month ago and have now stabilized
  • Delays in launching the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion Main Street Lending Program may end up hurting the medium-sized businesses it’s meant to help
  • The coronavirus pandemic is worsening U.S. inequality along income and racial lines, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said
• Argentina published a new debt offer that shortens its payment moratorium to two years and delays principal payments for half a decade
• It’s GDP day in Canada -- here’s what to expect
• The International Monetary Fund approved an $11 billion credit line for Peru as the South American nation’s economy endures a slump that may be the deepest in more than a century
• The guardians of the European Union’s new 750 billion-euro ($825 billion) recovery plan will have to avoid some big pitfalls to ensure their grand show of unity doesn’t fail
  • The euro area’s inflation rate fell to the lowest level in four years, adding to reasons for the European Central Bank to expand monetary stimulus
  • The ECB will take center stage next week with investor attention focused on the likelihood of an increase in the size of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme
  • The EU is urgently reviewing measures that would help companies and households take advantage of unprecedented relief measures after complaints that banks are reluctant to lend
  • Italy’s economy shrank more than initially estimated in the first quarter, reflecting coronavirus restrictions that started to be implemented earlier than in many other countries
• Staring at a record debt issuance this fiscal year, traders in Japan’s sovereign bond market are signaling that the $2 trillion deluge will flatten the nation’s yield curve

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