Virus Bailouts, U.K. Contraction, Global Economy Scars: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Happy Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get you through to the weekend:

• The U.K. economy shrank a record 20.4% in April as businesses and workers reeled under the lockdown designed to control the coronavirus pandemic
• The top European official in charge of handling failing banks warned against using taxpayer money to rescue lenders that were barely surviving before the coronavirus pandemic
• The U.K. will introduce a temporary light-touch customs regime at its border with the EU next year, in an attempt to avoid piling burdens on businesses already struggling with the impact of coronavirus
• Can the global economy hope for a V-shaped recovery, or should we brace for a U-shaped slog? Looking at the stock market, the message is decidedly mixed, writes Scott Johnson and Tom Orlik
• Japan’s parliament passed a record 31.9 trillion yen ($298 billion) extra budget Friday in an effort to shore up the economy
• The global economy is recovering more slowly than expected and will bear lingering scars, according to the IMF
• President Donald Trump says the economy will be back and better than ever next year. Fed chief Jerome Powell begs to differ
• Czechs are so averse to borrowing that a prime minister once described debt as “public enemy no. 1”. Yet, the government says it’s learned from its mistake
• Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits extended their slow decline, underscoring the longer-term labor-market challenges
• Governments in East Africa will ask for debt relief and implement new tax measures to free up money to help their economies through the impact of the coronavirus pandemic

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