Women Job Losses, Rate Cuts Likely in Turkey, S. Africa: Eco Day

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

• The World Bank named Harvard University professor Carmen Reinhart as its chief economist, tapping an expert in the history of debt and financial crises as the global economy suffers its deepest downturn since the Great Depression
• Central banks in Turkey and South Africa will probably cut interest rates today
• A potential $1 trillion could be lost from global growth as female workers fall out of the workforce during the coronavirus, according to a new analysis by Citigroup Inc.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve received a bipartisan critique Wednesday from members of a congressional oversight panel who said the central bank has been slow to launch a key emergency lending program for mid-sized companies
• Japanese exports dropped in April by the most since the global financial crisis as the coronavirus hobbled demand for cars and auto parts in the U.S. and Europe
• Early South Korea trade figures for May signaled deep global trade weakness as the pandemic smothers economic activity around the world
• Australia’s central bank chief Philip Lowe warned that without a Covid-19 vaccine, the economic recovery will likely be “quite slow” as people would be nervous about their health and unwilling to spend
• The Czech National Bank had done most of its work before the crisis hit, allowing the country, which has one of European Union’s lowest debt burdens, to cheaply finance aid to fight the economic fallout

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