Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expects a global recession this year that will be at least as severe as the downturn during the financial crisis more than a decade ago, followed by a recovery in 2021. Nearly 80 countries have asked the Washington-based IMF for emergency finance, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement following a ...

Bloomberg AT&T Inc. is in discussions with banks for a new $5 billion term loan as it seeks alternative short-term financing options following a spike in commercial-paper costs, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are still in flux and details may change, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The ...

Bloomberg The UK has pledged more fiscal stimulus to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus than during the global financial crisis a decade ago, underscoring the scale of the threat posed by the pandemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has allocated a total of almost 57 billion pounds ($66 billion) in direct support since the budget on March 11, ...

Bloomberg Germany’s economy is heading for a steep recession as attempts to slow the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic sent the services sector into an unprecedented slump. IHS Markit’s gauge of manufacturing and services activity plunged in March. It signals GDP in euro area’s biggest economy could drop by around 2% in first quarter — with worse to come. “The ...

Bloomberg Canada’s economic heartland is shutting down as Ontario and Quebec step up efforts to slow down the coronavirus outbreak. The two provinces, which together account for about 57% of the country’s economy, have ordered non-essential businesses to close by the end of Tuesday. The order is set to run for two weeks in Ontario and three in Quebec. “We’re ...

Bloomberg Twitter Inc. slashed its revenue forecast and warned of a loss for the current quarter, citing a decline in advertisers’ spending on its social network during the coronavirus outbreak. First-quarter sales will be down “slightly” year-over-year, compared with analysts’ average estimate for growth of 11%, according to a Bloomberg survey. San Francisco-based Twitter said it expects to incur an ...

Bloomberg Continental Europe’s labour-market model is experiencing rare praise from economists because it may help prevent massive job losses during the coronavirus pandemic. While widespread layoffs are feared in the US, analysts don’t expect the same fallout in euro-area employment, where rules often make it harder for companies to fire workers, and also encourage their retention during a crisis. Such ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the American economy can’t remain slowed for too long to fight the coronavirus, declaring that the country “was not built to be shut down.” “America will again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,” Trump said. “A lot sooner than three or four months.” The president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, James ...

Bloomberg Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will make an application for bail on Wednesday, on grounds he is vulnerable to the virus pandemic while in prison. The Australian is being held at Britain’s most notorious prison, Belmarsh in southeast London, which holds around 800 prisoners. His US extradition trial began in February and was adjourned until May 18. The ...

Bloomberg The US said it will cut assistance to Afghanistan by $1 billion this year and threatened more cuts could come as a breakdown in talks over forming a unity government threatened to derail a US-engineered peace deal. Hours after departing Kabul on March 23, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued a statement saying the US “deeply regrets” the failure ...