At an important meeting yesterday, EU countries did not agree to the joint debt that the countries most affected by the coronavirus (Italy, Spain, and France) have been asking for. Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands have proposed using the European Stability Mechanism instead, but the affected countries do not seem too eager to agree to that.
So, right now Europe is divided in terms of policy preferences. Unless EU states reach a compromise, the pandemic could have devastating effects on the eurozone’s economy. The meeting will resume on Thursday.
Speaking of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is still far from over. In fact, we might not even have seen the worst of it yet. The number of total cases of the coronavirus around the world is approaching 1,5 million, just a few days after reaching the 1 million milestone. The United States is affected the most, with over 400,000 cases, followed by Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, who all have over 100,000 patients suffering from Covid-19.
As the world’s biggest economies are heavily affected by the virus, fears of a global recession increase every day. Thus, investors are keen on avoiding risky assets and prefer to stick to safe havens like the US dollar instead.
Meanwhile, oil prices continue to rise in the hopes that the meeting of OPEC+ member states tomorrow will lead to an agreement of cutting production volumes.
