The coronavirus pandemic could seriously disrupt global food supply chains and send prices soaring, especially for those economies with vulnerable supply structures, if major producing countries increase export restrictions, international agencies and food experts have warned.
The timing could not have been worse for Russia to provoke a spat with Saudi Arabia over oil production quotas in early March. Moscow’s decision to withdraw from the OPEC+ agreement restricting oil production in order to maintain higher oil prices triggered a harsh reaction by Riyadh that sent oil prices spiralling down to below $25 per barrel in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the US’s $2 trillion stimulus bill is hogging headlines stateside, governments around the world are rolling out their own sweeping rescue packages in an effort to mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19 containment efforts.
We are facing a crisis of historic proportions. But if what we are going through can indeed be called a war, it is certainly not a typical one. After all, today’s enemy is shared by all of humankind, and the mobilisation of state resources must go hand in hand with the demobilisation of most of the population.
Plagues put a mirror to the societies they afflict. A pandemic will expose the failures of a government that does not invest in the health of its constituents or address the collective risks that arise when vulnerable groups lack health protections. For such a society, taking those lessons and applying them to reduce the risks of future contagion is surely the better of two possible outcomes.
Courtesy: John Hopkins University
Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic jumped to 5,690, with 832 patients dying in the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry. The announcement came as the number of people infected with the virus in the United States hit more than 104,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, with deaths surpassing 1,700.
Leaders of the Group of 20 or G20 major economies on Thursday pledged to infuse over $5 trillion into the global economy, and do “whatever it takes” to minimize the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a joint statement issued after the G-20’s first ever virtual summit, chaired by Saudi Arabia, members committed themselves to restore global growth, maintaining market stability and strengthening resilience. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among leaders who participated in the video conference.
President Trump has suggested America still has “a lot of power over the situation” and could yet find a middle ground. The U.S. leader will need all his famed dealmaking ability and more though to pull off what could be a deal of the century with Saudi Arabia, to keep U.S. energy independence and the shale industry alive.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still spiralling out of control, the best economic outcome that anyone can hope for is a recession deeper than that following the 2008 financial crisis. But given the flailing policy response so far, the chances of a far worse outcome are increasing by the day.
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India’s 1.3 billion people have joined the global lockdown triggered by the outbreak as the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern at the acceleration of the pandemic in the United States. Germany recorded 4,191 new cases of the coronavirus and 36 more deaths, raising the total number of infections to 31,554.
