Bloomberg Africa needs an immediate emergency economic stimulus of $100 billion to combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and almost half of that could come from waiving interest payments for countries on the continent, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The waiver of interest payments, estimated at $44 billion for 2020, and the possible extension …

Bloomberg The UK economy will contract at least 10% in the first half of the year as the fallout from the coronavirus hammers output, according to Bloomberg Economics’ estimates. In a report released on Monday, senior UK economist Dan Hanson said support provided by the Bank of England and the Treasury should prompt a turnaround in the second half of …

Bloomberg Coal, the dirtiest and usually the cheapest option for energy, is now the world’s most expensive fossil fuel. Oil’s epic collapse over the past month means the global crude benchmark is now priced below the most widely traded coal contract on an energy-equivalent basis, according to Bloomberg calculations. Australia’s Newcastle coal on ICE Futures Europe settled at $66.85 a …