COVID-19 – Fauci Sees May 1 Restart as Overly Optimistic

By Gina Lee, Geoffrey Smith and Kim Khan

Investing.com - A May 1 restart to the U.S. economy may be “a bit overly optimistic,” Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Associated Press Tuesday.

"We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we're not there yet," Fauci said.

Meanwhile, political divisions on handling the Covid-19 pandemic heated up. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rebuffed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to provide more money for lending to small businesses. The plan should do more to help local governments and hospitals and also provide loans to non-profits and universities, Pelosi said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed back at President Donald Trump’s assertion that the president has complete authority to restart the U.S. economy. Cuomo said he would refuse such an order by Trump if it were unsafe to open up businesses.

Trump tweeted this morning that Cuomo could not have “independence” after the federal government provided supplies like ventilators.

During his daily press conference on the pandemic, Cuomo said hospitalizations and intubations in New York state were down, but 778 people died due to the disease.

Worldwide there were 1.94 million cases and more than 120,000 deaths.

The International Monetary Fund said the global economy would contract by 3% this year, “much worse than during the 2008–09 financial crisis.”

“In a baseline scenario--which assumes that the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 and containment efforts can be gradually unwound—the global economy is projected to grow by 5.8% in 2021 as economic activity normalizes, helped by policy support,” the IMF said. “The risks for even more severe outcomes, however, are substantial.”

Europe

France's economy will shrink by some 8% this year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. France extended its lockdown measures for another three weeks to May 11 on Monday.

Germany's Robert Koch Institute said there was no clear sign of the virus slowing down in the country and urged "patience" and "discipline". German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to discuss an extension of the current lockdown measures and the possibility of a partial relaxation with state governors on Wednesday.

The U.K. is set to extend its lockdown for another three weeks on Thursday, according to The Times of London. Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said there are around 1.4 million people now claiming jobless benefits in the country and said the struggle against the virus would take months rather than weeks.

Spain allowed the reopening of some non-essential businesses.

Italy's central bank researchers said a two-month lockdown could cause annual GDP to fall by 11%. The country is reopening bookstores and laundries from Tuesday.

Asia/Pacific

China reported higher-than-expected trade data for the previous month on Tuesday as year-on-year exports and imports contracted less than expected whilst the trade balance increased.

The General Administration of Customs said that exports year-on-year for March shrank by -6.6%, against the -14% drop expected by analysts surveyed by Investing.com.

Imports year-on-year shrank by –0.9%, compared to predictions of a -9.5% drop and the trade balance stood at $19.9 billion against the forecasted $18.55 billion.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lengthen the country’s quarantine today as he is scheduled to address the nation later in the day.

The country’s initial 21-day quarantine period ended today.

South Korean President Jae In Moon will submit a supplementary budget plan to the National Assembly “soon”.

As the country prepares to vote for NA representatives on Wednesday, Moon announced that his government looks to provide emergency cash payments for the first time in Korea’s constitutional history as the country faces economic turbulence due to Covid-19.

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