Tears for fears who is ill

The survey notes that the global economy contracted by around 4.5 percent in 2020, the biggest fall in global activity in several decades. Having recovered from lockdown-imposed weakness in the first half of the year, many economies again faced weakness as a second wave of COVID infections triggered renewed lockdowns. The survey envisions a steady recovery this year, but continued uncertainty limits the bounce in consumer and busines confidence, with pre-crisis output not being reached until mid-2022. The survey also indicates that the Global orders, employment and capital investment indices recorded a further modest improvement, but still point to activity well below the pre-crisis level in the fourth quarter of 2019. The “fear” indices which means the concern about customers and suppliers going out of business, edged lower in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 but remain elevated, clearly underlining the extreme uncertainty in the global economic outlook at the start of 2021. At the same time, inflation concerns remain negligible with concern about costs staying close to an all-time low. “Last year was the worst for the global economy for several decades,” said Warner Johnston, Head of ACCA USA. “2021 will see recovery, but precisely when and how strong it will be is very uncertain. We anticipate a weak start, followed by a recovery gathering momentum through the second half. Much depends on the evolution of the COVID virus and variants relative to the progress of vaccination programs, and there is great uncertainty surrounding these developments.” Agreed with this points, Raef Lawson, IMA vice president of research and policy analysed the policy responses to the pandemic that have left public finances of most economies in a perilous state with budget deficits in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent of GDP in many countries with debt to GDP ratios well over 100 percent. In North America, confidence dropped in Q4, having jumped by the most on record in Q3. …

The Hanoitimes - People who returned from China will be quarantined for 14 days before coming home. Vietnam will repatriate its citizens from China on fears of worse situation of novel coronavirus (nCoV)-caused epidemic that has killed 426 people and caused 20,626 infections in China. On February 2, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with the Chinese side to bring Vietnamese nationals back to the country through border gates and airports. Some airlines are allowed to resume flights to China to bring Vietnamese citizens back to the country. Photo: VNA They will return to the home country through border gates in the northern provinces namely Huu Nghi in Lang Son province, Lao Cai in Lao Cai province, Mong Cai in Quang Ninh province, Tay Trang in Dien Bien, and Thanh Thuy in Ha Giang. A number of others will fly to airports across the country, including Van Don in Quang Ninh and some small aviation terminals in the central and southern regions, except international ones. Since February 1, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAA) has halted all flights between Vietnam and China. However, some domestic airlines need to resume several flights to bring Vietnamese citizens back to the country. All flights after the government ban must get approval from different agencies. In another move, the Ministry of Transport has worked with Chinese agencies to halt the operations of transnational railway route Gia Lam – Nanning – Beijing in the next few days. So far, Vietnam Railway Corporation has stopped selling tickets of the daily railway route which carries average 130 passengers per day. Railway stations of the transnational route have been sterilized while railway stewards, porters, and passengers are all required medical quarantine before entering Vietnam. Two Chinese nationals who were infected nCoV (the first coronavirus infections found in Vietnam) was passengers of SE5 railway …

Global economy: Fragile confidence in early 2021

nCoV: Vietnam repatriates citizens from China