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Tokyo reports 166 new cases of Covid-19

Bloomberg Tokyo reported an additional 166 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total in the city to 2,068. Governor Yuriko Koike released the daily increase in an online briefing. New infections eased from a single-day record gain of 197 marked the previous day. Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura urged residents to further limit contact with other people and warned it ...

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Singapore gets stricter on law enforcement for virus spread

Bloomberg Singapore will start imposing fines on first-timers who flout social-distancing rules, while those who aren’t wearing masks may be barred from entering some premises which provide essential services, as the spread of coronavirus in the city-state showed few signs of abating. The government has closed beaches, and some areas of parks and nature reserves, saying “tougher measures” are necessary ...

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Covid-19: India may colour-code zones on lockdown extension

Bloomberg India’s government is likely to divide the country into three zones — red, orange and green — during the proposed extended period of lockdown and might permit a few services to function in safe zones, the Economic Times reported, citing people it didn’t identify. No activity will be allowed in the red zones where sizable number of cases were ...

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Canada approves wage bill to stem wave of job losses

Bloomberg Canadian lawmakers approved a bill to subsidise wages by 75% in a bid to stabilize the economy as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the coronavirus his generation’s greatest challenge yet. The flagship C$73 billion ($52 billion) program — more than one-quarter of the government’s emergency fiscal plan to date — was passed in an emergency sitting of the House ...

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Putin plans $14bn stimulus as pressure mounts for spending

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government plans to dramatically ramp up stimulus measures to prop up an economy that is lurching towards recession. The government will roll out about 1 trillion rubles ($13.5 billion) of new spending, according to two people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be named because discussions are ongoing. Some of the money will ...

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Virgin Trains poised to win $10mn in tax credits

Bloomberg Virgin Trains USA is poised to win $10 million in tax credits from California’s economic development agency for its proposed passenger rail to Las Vegas from a southern California desert city. The company, backed by Fortress Investment Group private equity funds, has said the project will generate construction jobs and full-time and part-time posts, as well as boost housing ...

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UK companies struggle to access cash promised by government

Bloomberg UK businesses are struggling to access the cash they need as government efforts fall short, according to the British Chambers of Commerce. Just 1% of companies surveyed by the BCC had managed to access Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Eight percent said they had been unsuccessful, citing the complexity of the application process, slow responses ...

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Uber rival Bolt seeks credit support crisis

Bloomberg Ride-hailing company Bolt Technology OU is seeking credit support from the Estonian government after a switch to quarantine-friendly services didn’t make up for lost revenue and it couldn’t access bank lending under existing state guarantee terms. The service formerly known as Taxify, a rival to Uber Technologies Inc., is asking for $54 million in loans through a state fund ...

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Merkel’s crisis stimulus is seeping into German economy

Bloomberg In late March, Arnold Mergell delivered an urgent message to Germany’s political elite. Standing in front of a row of blue metal barrels, he complained that the funds needed by small and mid-sized companies like his to survive the coronavirus crisis weren’t getting through fast enough. “The bazooka’s been loaded, but the trigger is stuck,” said Mergell, who runs ...

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Kremlin hopes for consensus between Opec, allies on oil cuts

Bloomberg Russia “sincerely hopes” that a consensus on oil-output cuts will be formalised among the world’s biggest producers as talks to rescue global energy markets continue after Mexico balked at proposed measures, Interfax reports, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Opec+ coalition, including Russia, were closing in on an unprecedented agreement to lower global crude production by about 10% after ...

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