Coronavirus

• [New] A recovery plan based on lower-carbon emissions could not only make significant emissions reductions needed to battle climate change, but also create more economic growth and jobs than a high-carbon recovery plan would.
• [New] United Nations has allocated 100 million US dollar to help people feed themselves in countries most at risk from the growing hunger epidemic caused by conflict, economic decline, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
• [New] Failure to strike a post-Brexit trade deal would cut the UK's economic growth rate by more than half in 2021, delaying a full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
• [New] Global spending on public cloud services will be up 18.4% in 2021 and hit $304.9bn, fuelled by the uptick in demand for off-premise services caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• [New] Vietnam's growth in 2020 is expected to be 2.4%, among the highest in the world, thanks to its decisive steps to contain the health and economic fallout from COVID-19.
• [New] S&P sees the Israeli economy shrinking as a result of the coronavirus pandemic by 5.0% in 2020, but sees recovery in 2021, with 4.5% growth.
• [New] The waiting list for council housing in England will almost double to two million people next year, amid alarming figures suggesting that hundreds of thousands are already facing the threat of eviction as a result of the Covid-19 fallout.
• [New] The International Energy Agency on Thursday cut its 2020 global oil demand forecast and said it does not expect the prospect of a coronavirus vaccine to significantly boost demand until well into next year.
• [New] OPEC cuts 2020 oil demand forecast again on rising Covid cases - sees slower recovery next year - OPEC on Wednesday trimmed its global oil demand forecasts for the remainder of 2020 and 2021, citing a weaker-than-expected economic outlook and a surge in coronavirus cases.
• [New] Permanent refining capacity closures expected for 2020-2021 have risen to about 1.7 million bpd as the COVID-19 pandemic hammers demand for oil products.
• [New] Market research firm TechNavio is predicting a short-term slump in the automated test equipment market as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, followed by a rebound and growth through 2024.
• [New] EU funds will be of even bigger importance in the coming years, as Poland eyes economic recovery after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2021 and beyond.
• [New] Global catches from wild fisheries are expected to decline slightly in 2020, as, overall, there is a reduced fishing effort due to COVID-19-related restrictions on fishing vessel crews and poor market conditions.
• [New] The German government's council of economic advisers on Wednesday said it expected Europe's largest economy to shrink less than initially feared in 2020 thanks to a strong summer, but a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was clouding the growth outlook for 2021.
• [New] More recently, in the first half of 2020, COVID-19-related disruptions to the local markets and trade, already adversely affected by the lingering impact of the prolonged conflict, provided further support, as did the lower imports due to the border screening implemented by the Government of Uganda.
• [New] Economic growth rates in the post-COVID - 19 world will be lower and, by 2035, global gross output (sales) levels will be about 2.8% lower than the pre-pandemic forecasts from 2019.
• [New] The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has brought tourism and travel to a standstill but new growth opportunities are expected to lead recovery in 2021 and beyond.
• [New] The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) urged G20 nations to take measures that could unlock as much as $500 billion (379.2 billion pounds) for the world's poorest countries and help avoid lasting scars from a prolonged funding gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• [New] The Victorian Government will spend nearly $870 million to fix a broken mental health system which, it admits, is under even greater pressure due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
• [New] The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries revised its demand forecast on Wednesday, saying global oil demand will rebound more slowly in 2021 than previously thought because of rising coronavirus cases.
• Over the next five years, COVID-19 is expected to delay economic growth both in Africa as well as the rest of the world.
• Global renewable electricity installation will hit a record level in 2020, in sharp contrast with the declines caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the fossil fuel sectors.
• The UK industrial and logistics sector performed well in the first half of 2020, despite disruptions to the UK economy caused by Covid-19.

Last updated: 22 November 2020