FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank left its large monetary stimulus unchanged Thursday, as policy makers wait to see how a resurgence in Covid-19 cases across the continent and a jump in the value of the euro might affect the region’s economy. ECB President Christine Lagarde said the bank is paying close attention to the currency, highlighting … Read more
LONDON—European governments have spent big keeping millions of workers on company payrolls during the pandemic. Now, the U.K. is set to find out what happens when that support is removed. The U.K. government has said it would close the most costly of its coronavirus-support programs for businesses late next month, which would make the country … Read more
From India to Mexico and Brazil, the world’s biggest poor countries are witnessing some of the steepest economic contractions on record, throwing tens of millions out of work and turning back the clock on gains against poverty. Poor nations haven’t felt this kind of pain since the Great Depression. India’s economy shrank by nearly a … Read more
PARIS—France said it plans to spend €100 billion ($118 billion) on jobs programs, green technologies and health care as it seeks to breathe new life into its economy, which has taken an outsize beating from the coronavirus pandemic. The recovery fund represents about 4% of France’s gross domestic product, more than any other big European … Read more
SYDNEY—Natasha Brock, a 22-year-old communications student, wasn’t born when Australia last had a recession. She’s now experiencing what it’s like to live through one. Furloughed from her job at a clothing retailer following a recent coronavirus flare-up in Melbourne, Ms. Brock has relied on government handouts to ensure she can still pay for her courses … Read more
U.S. factory output continued to grow in August, according to a pair of surveys released Tuesday, but the picture for employment was mixed, a possible sign of lingering uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic among American manufacturers. Sluggish employment, if sustained, could pose a threat to the recovery just as the economy is starting to pick … Read more
FRANKFURT—Germany’s economy is recovering faster than was anticipated a few months ago, helped by a mild and short coronavirus lockdown, a large-scale fiscal stimulus and Berlin’s close trade links with China, according to new government forecasts. The country’s gross domestic product should contract by 5.8% this year, a 0.5 percentage-point improvement on earlier forecasts and … Read more
NEW DELHI—Investors across the globe are hoarding gold in the Covid-19 pandemic. In normally gold-obsessed India, there’s a glut, as struggling families stop buying and start hocking jewelry. International investors have lifted the price of gold to all-time highs this year, trying to get their hands on more gold coins, bars and exchange-traded funds. Many … Read more
ISTANBUL—The Turkish economy, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, contracted sharply in the second quarter, jeopardizing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s central political pledge of rapidly reviving the nation’s economic prosperity. Turkey’s output shrank 9.9% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, and 11% compared with the first quarter of 2020, … Read more
NEW DELHI—India’s economy shrank by a record 23.9% last quarter—the biggest blow the coronavirus pandemic has dealt to a major economy so far—as a nationwide lockdown and fear of the fast-spreading pandemic strangled spending. Gross domestic product took a beating in the April-through-June quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to government … Read more