Facing rising unemployment and with many of their citizens struggling to make ends meet, governments around the world are wrestling with when and how to ease the restrictions designed to control the coronavirus pandemic.
Mandatory lockdowns to stop the spread of the new virus, which has so far infected more than 2.2 million people and for which there is no vaccine, have brought widespread hardship.
In a joint statement Saturday, a group of 13 countries including Canada, Brazil, Italy and Germany called for global co-operation to lessen the economic impact of the pandemic.
“It is vital that we work together to save lives and livelihoods,” they said.
The group, which also includes Britain, France Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, South Korea, Singapore and Turkey, said it was committed to “work with all countries to co-ordinate on public health, travel, trade, economic and financial measures in order to minimize disruptions and recover stronger.”
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This includes maintaining “air, land and marine transportation links” to ensure the continued flow of goods including medical equipment and aid, and the return home of travellers, they said.
In the United States, the debate has taken on partisan tones ahead of this fall’s presidential elections. Republican President Donald Trump urged supporters to “liberate” three states led by Democratic governors, tweeting the kind of rhetoric some have used to demand an end to stay-at-home orders that have thrown millions out of work.
There have been tentative signs that measures to curb the outbreak are working, with the rate of new infections slowing across Europe in response to the lockdowns there.
1:30 Coronavirus outbreak: WHO says containment of novel coronavirus ‘is possible’
Coronavirus outbreak: WHO says containment of novel coronavirus ‘is possible’
In France and Spain, some field hospitals were starting to be dismantled, while Germany said the number of people infected by each person with COVID-19 fell below one for the first time this week.
Still, most governments and public health officials remain cautious about relaxing the shutdowns, despite the mounting economic toll.
“It’s wrong, sensationally wrong to communicate that there is a kind of conflict with health and safety on one side and economic resumption,” said Domenico Arcuri, Italy’s extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency.
Arcuri told reporters Saturday that “without health, the (economic) revival will disappear in the batting of an eyelash.”
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2:04 Coronavirus outbreak: COVID-19 contact tracing app gains traction in Europe
Coronavirus outbreak: COVID-19 contact tracing app gains traction in Europe
The Italian government’s decree, shutting down nonessential industries and businesses, runs through May 3. Health experts are advising that any easing must be gradual in the country that’s seen the most deaths so far in Europe, with nearly 23,000 fatalities and over 172,000 known cases.
Some Asian nations that until recently appeared to have the outbreak under control, including Singapore and Japan, reported a fresh surge in cases Saturday.
Japan’s total case number rose above 10,000 on Saturday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed concern Friday that people were not observing social distancing and announced a 100,000-yen ($930) cash handout to each resident as an incentive to stay home.
Iran, hard hit by the virus and international sanctions, allowed some businesses in the capital and nearby towns to re-open Saturday after weeks of lockdown. Gyms, restaurants, shopping malls and Tehran’s grand bazaar will remain closed.
4:01 Coronavirus around the world: April 16, 2020
Coronavirus around the world: April 16, 2020
In Africa, one of the world’s poorest regions, the pandemic is only just getting underway. The continent has now recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths, among them the Nigerian president’s chief of staff.
Top leaders of China’s ruling Communist Party called for deficit spending and a more flexible monetary policy after the economy shrank 6.8 per cent in the first three months of the year.
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France’s lower house of parliament approved an emergency budget overnight that takes into account the government’s 110 billion-euro ($120 billion) plan to save the economy from virus-related collapse. The government has warned that France’s economy, one of the world’s biggest, could shrink 8 per cent this year and see its worst recession since World War II.
South Korea’s health minister, Kim Gang-lip, said Saturday that new guidelines could be issued soon that officials have said would allow people to engage in “certain levels of economic and social activity.”
The East Asian country was among the 13 nations to issue the joint statement on protecting global trade. The declaration also stressed “the importance and critical role of the scientific community in providing guidance to governments.”
While most of those sickened by the virus recover, the outbreak has killed at least 154,000 people worldwide, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally based on figures supplied by government health authorities around the globe.
The number all but certainly underestimates the actual toll. Authorities said that almost everywhere, thousands have died with COVID-19 symptoms — many in nursing homes — without being tested for the virus, and have thus gone uncounted. In Britain, with an official count of about 14,600 dead, the country’s statistics agency said the actual number could be around 15 per cent higher.
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China on Saturday reported a nearly 40 per cent increase in its death toll to 4,632 victims, reflecting a major upward revision made the previous day by authorities in Wuhan, the nation’s hardest-hit city.
An Associated Press tally from news media reports and state health departments indicates 6,912 U.S. deaths have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The U.S. government has not been releasing a count.
The official death toll in the U.S. has topped 35,000, with more than 700,000 confirmed infections.
1:02 Cruise ship bookings on the rise despite COVID-19
Cruise ship bookings on the rise despite COVID-19
Protesters fed up with the economy-strangling restrictions have taken to the streets in several U.S. states. In Idaho, where the governor is a Republican, scores of protesters not wearing masks stood shoulder-to-shoulder Friday. Some carried signs claiming the coronavirus is a hoax.
“LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, ” Trump said in a tweet-storm in which he also lashed out at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, for criticizing the federal response. Cuomo “should spend more time `doing’ and less time `complaining,”’ the president said.
Texas and Florida, which both have Republican governors, took first steps toward easing restrictions.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said stores could begin selling curbside, nonessential surgery could resume and state parks could reopen. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said municipalities could reopen beaches and parks if they could do so safely.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Canada’s inflation rate fell to two per cent last month, finally hitting the Bank of Canada’s target after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth.
The annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index report on Tuesday attributed the slowdown in part to lower gasoline prices.
Clothing and footwear prices also decreased on a month-over-month basis, marking the first decline in the month of August since 1971 as retailers offered larger discounts to entice shoppers amid slowing demand.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures of inflation, which strip out volatility in prices, also edged down in August.
The marked slowdown in price growth last month was steeper than the 2.1 per cent annual increase forecasters were expecting ahead of Tuesday’s release and will likely spark speculation of a larger interest rate cut next month from the Bank of Canada.
“Inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate,” wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.
Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO, said Tuesday’s figures “tilt the scales” slightly in favour of more aggressive cuts, though he noted the Bank of Canada will have one more inflation reading before its October rate announcement.
“If we get another big downside surprise, calls for a 50 basis-point cut will only grow louder,” wrote Reitzes in a client note.
The central bank began rapidly hiking interest rates in March 2022 in response to runaway inflation, which peaked at a whopping 8.1 per cent that summer.
The central bank increased its key lending rate to five per cent and held it at that level until June 2024, when it delivered its first rate cut in four years.
A combination of recovered global supply chains and high interest rates have helped cool price growth in Canada and around the world.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem recently signalled that the central bank is ready to increase the size of its interest rate cuts, if inflation or the economy slow by more than expected.
Its key lending rate currently stands at 4.25 per cent.
CIBC is forecasting the central bank will cut its key rate by two percentage points between now and the middle of next year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected on Wednesday to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
