NEW YORK, March 13 — Policymakers and government leaders have taken a range of approaches to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus. Here is a list of how some of the world’s biggest economies and economic blocs have reacted.
United States
The Federal Reserve said it will make US$1.5 trillion (RM6.42 trillion) available for overnight lending markets and start purchasing a broader range of US Treasury securities as part of its monthly purchases, a shift that signals it could deploy crisis-era tools sooner than planned. The central bank offered US$500 billion in a three-month repo operation yesterday and will offer an additional US$500 billion in one-month repo and US$500 billion in three-month repo loans today.
It comes a day after President Trump said the US Treasury Department will defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted, aiming to provide more than US$200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy.
He also said the Small Business Administration will provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus by providing low-interest loans to small businesses in affected states and territories, effective immediately. And he suspended all travel from Europe, with a few exceptions, to the United States for 30 days starting today.
Earlier, Trump signed a US$8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat the spread of the virus and develop vaccines for the highly contagious disease.
The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by half a percentage point in its first emergency rate move since the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Investors expect more cuts in the weeks ahead.
European Central Bank
The ECB will provide banks with loans at a rate as low as minus 0.75 per cent, below the -0.5 per cent deposit rate, and increase bond purchases by 120 billion Euros this year with a focus on corporate debt. The ECB’s bank supervisory arm will let euro zone banks fall short of some key capital and cash requirements, to keep credit flowing to the economy.
But unlike its US and UK counterparts, the ECB held back on cutting rates and instead pointed the finger at euro zone governments, who have been slow in ramping up spending.
China
China earmarked 110.5 billion yuan (RM67.3 billion) to fight the epidemic. Beijing has ramped up funding support for virus-hit regions and the country’s central bank has cut several of its key rates, including the benchmark lending rate, and has urged banks to give cheap loans and payment relief to exposed companies.
China will modify the environmental supervision of companies to help the resumption of production disrupted by the coronavirus epidemic, giving firms more time to rectify environmental problems.
Italy
Italy has doubled the amount it plans to spend on tackling its coronavirus outbreak to 7.5 billion Euros (RM35.9 billion) and is raising this year’s deficit goal to 2.5 per cent of national output from the current 2.2 per cent target.
Payments on mortgages will be suspended across the whole of Italy and Italy’s banking lobby ABI said lenders would offer debt moratoriums to small firms and households grappling with the economic fallout from the virus.
Japan
Japan unveiled a second package of measures worth about US$4 billion in spending to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, focusing on support to small and mid-sized firms, as concerns mount about risks to the fragile economy.
Separately, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has pledged to pump more liquidity into markets and step up asset buying.
The European Union
European Union leaders have so far failed to agree radical measures to tackle the crisis. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet yesterday that Brussels was working on responses including a “package to prop up the EU economy”.
Germany
Germany’s centre-left coalition agreed to increase public investments by 12.4 billion Euros by 2024 and to make it easier for companies to claim subsidies to support workers on reduced working hours to counter the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives are split over whether Germany should rush out a fiscal stimulus package to counter any impact of the coronavirus on Europe’s largest economy.
Britain
Britain launched a 30 billion GBP (RM161 billion) economic stimulus plan just hours after the Bank of England slashed interest rates, a double-barrelled package aimed at warding off the risk of a coronavirus recession.
France
The government is allowing companies to suspend payments of some social charges and taxes, and is activating state-subsidised short-time work schemes. It has ordered the Bpifrance state investment bank to guarantee loans needed to overcome short-term cashflow problems.
Paris has also allowed companies to declare force majeure due to the outbreak if they cannot honour a contract with the public sector, and is putting pressure on big companies to show similar leniency with subcontractors.
India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to infuse fresh cash liquidity into the system through a second round of long-term repo operations (LTRO), government officials told Reuters, amid fears that the coronavirus outbreak will derail any revival of economic growth.
The RBI has said it stands ready to act to maintain market confidence and preserve financial stability.
The government is, meanwhile, pushing state-run banks to approve new loans amounting to 500-600 billion rupees by the end of March, according to government sources.
Canada
Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on March 9 that the government was “looking at taking some initiatives this week,” as Canada reported its first coronavirus death, with a steep decline in oil prices expected to hit the world’s fourth-largest crude producer hard.
The Bank of Canada lowered its benchmark overnight rate to 1.25 per cent from 1.75 per cent in response to the epidemic, prompting money markets to price in a better-than-even chance of another reduction next month. The last time it cut by 50 basis points was in 2009 during the financial crisis.
South Korea
The government announced a stimulus package of 11.7 trillion won (US$9.8 billion) to cushion the impact of the largest outbreak of coronavirus outside China. An additional 10.3 trillion won in treasury bonds will be issued this year to fund the extra budget.
Seoul has also dramatically tightened rules on short-selling for three months. Starting March 11, stocks with a sudden and abnormal increase in short-selling transactions will be suspended from further short-selling for 10 days.
— Reuters
