April, 2020

• 13 April

  Manila bars doctors from going abroad to boost health force

  

  Bloomberg The Philippines has temporarily barred doctors, nurses and other health workers from leaving for overseas work amid the coronavirus outbreak, a move that irked its top diplomat who pledged to fight the ban. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration issued a resolution on April 2 halting the departure of workers in 14 medical professions for the duration of the nation’s ...

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• 13 April

  Covid-19: Meituan turns down claims it exploited restaurants

  Bloomberg China’s largest food-delivery site Meituan has hit back against allegations that it charged onerous commissions to restaurants during the Covid-19 outbreak, underscoring the delicate balance the company must strike to get its business back on track. Responding to complaints from a restaurant association in the southern province of Guangdong, Meituan said its average profit per delivery order was less ...

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• 13 April

  China startups tumble on regulator comments

  

  Bloomberg China’s securities regulator punished two high-flying startups for misleading shareholders, barring them access to public markets for new funding. Shares of Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co and Zhejiang HangKe Technology Inc closed down at least 10% in Shanghai after the companies were told they wouldn’t be allowed to sell stocks or bonds publicly for a year. The punishment ...

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• 13 April

  Trump’s Big Oil deal not to save shale producers

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the “Big Oil deal” sealed will save hundreds of thousands of American jobs. But the agreement he brokered depends on a sharp downturn in shale that will likely bring about a wave of bankruptcies and job cuts. Days of frantic diplomatic maneuvering culminated in an agreement by Opec+ to pare production by 9.7 million barrels ...

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• 13 April

  China’s ‘green zone’ coal price tested as virus fight continues

  

  Bloomberg China’s coal prices have sunk to levels that threaten state intervention, but this time policy makers may refrain from doing so as they continue efforts to buttress the economy hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. The government will try to keep power prices low as it pushes to restart the economy, according to analysts. That goal will be helped by ...

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• 13 April

  Oil’s belt-tightening is bad news for clean power

  

  Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp said that it would slash its capital expenditures by $10 billion, to about two-thirds of what it had planned just a month ago. It’s the second-largest capex cut in the company’s modern history, according to Bloomberg News. While those capex cuts are in the future, oil production dynamics are changing in real time. Rystad Energy analysis ...

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• 13 April

  Virus may nix 39% of US power projects

  

  Bloomberg More than a third of new US electricity generation expected to come online over the next six months could hit roadblocks as the coronavirus pandemic curbs power consumption and disrupts supply chains. About 4.9 gigawatts, or 39%, of new utility-scale capacity will be “either cancelled or indefinitely postponed” from April through September, said Energy Information Administration economist Tyler Hodge. ...

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• 13 April

  World Bank sees LatAm GDP shrinking by 4.6% this year

  

  Bloomberg Gross domestic product (GDP) in the Latin America and Caribbean region, excluding Venezuela, is expected to shrink 4.6% in 2020, according to the World Bank. The dramatic drop in demand from China and G7 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting commodity exporters in South America and exporters of manufactured goods and services in Central America and the ...

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• 13 April

  UK small businesses tap more than $1.2bn of virus grants

  

  Bloomberg The UK has paid out more than 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) to small businesses across the country to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 100,000 firms have so far drawn on the cash from the government’s grants programs for small businesses, retailers and the hospitality sector, the Local Government Association said in an emailed statement on Monday. ...

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• 13 April

  Mexico job market had its worst March in 25 years

  

  Bloomberg Mexico’s employment market had its worst March in a quarter of a century as the global coronavirus pandemic took its toll on Latin America’s second largest economy. The country lost more than 130,500 jobs in the month from February after the employment market shrank 0.6%, according to a statement from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). The net job ...

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