Following last week’s announcements and counter notifications, Gilead is the first company to receive marketing authorization for an anti-COVID-19 drug. This is valid for the U.S. Europe has not made any announcement.
The Social Security has lost 947,896 affiliates since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and up to end-April, leaving the total number of contributors at 18.39 million. Meanwhile unemployment grew in these last two months by more than 585,000 people, exceeding 3.8 million unemployed. The Ministry of Labour has not included the almost 3.5 million Spaniards protected by a situation of total or partial suspension from work via temporary layoffs.
Asad Zangana (Schroeders) | Many economies are facing a deep recession as a result of Covid-19, but Italy went into this crisis in a more precarious situation than most. The country stands out as the most likely candidate to exit the eurozone for several reasons. First, with gross debt estimated at 135% of GDP in 2019, it faces a significant challenge in both servicing its debt, but also refinancing it.
Singular Bank | According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), governments have so far adopted expansionary fiscal policy measures worth $8.5 trillion (9.8% of world GDP in 2019). These are aimed at addressing the socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, in a context of global recession.
COVID-19 will result in a slowdown in housing transactions of -35% – up to 326.000 transactions in 2020, returning to minimal levels (2012 to 2014). Home buying decisions will be postponed by 6-12 months, and some of the demand will disappear for longer, producing a temporary imbalance between supply and demand.
Jorge Guira via The Conversation |How much US shale oil is worth saving in these straitened circumstances is key. Some estimate as many as 70% of firms will go out of business overall, with some never coming back until oil stabilises above US$50. Others may be taken over by companies prepared to wait for higher prices.
Oliver Vardakoulias via Macropolis |On March 26th, the European Council issued a joint statement stressing the objective of a ‘green transition. Since then a number of governments, business leaders, academics, MEPs, supra-national organizations, investors, and NGOs have equally called for post-emergency recovery packages (fiscal and monetary expansion to prop up our economies) to be aligned with the vision and targets of the EU Green Deal.
Yves Bonzon (Julius Baer) | On the fiscal side all countries might provide support measures that are quantitatively and qualitatively strong enough to ensure recovery when the containment ends. The way the required transfers from governments to their private sectors are financed, in essence the chosen mix of tax increases, borrowing from private savings and monetisation, will play a determining role on the recovery capacity of different countries and regions.
Philppe Waechter (Ostrum AM) The main point on the ECB meeting is the large uncertainty contained in the GDP forecasts. Last March, the ECB forecast was +0.8% for 2020. Today, Christine Lagarde said the gdp was expected to drop between -6 and -12% for 2020. That’s a huge revision reflecting uncertainty for the foreseeable future.
Royal Dutch Shell recorded losses of $24 million (22 million euros) in the first three months of 2020, compared to an attributable net profit of $6.001 billion (5.518 billion euros) a year earlier, as a result of the impact of the Great Confinement and the collapse of crude oil prices. The Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell has decided to cut the dividend for the first quarter of 2020 to $0.16, compared to $0.47 a year earlier.