The International Correspondent

Despite continuous fears of a worsening of the looming economic crisis, governments around the globe h ave been slow to roll out expanding measures to revive companies and the overall economy. In the UK, ... Rishi Sunak has come under fire for providing limited support to the more well-off industries, whereas smaller business owners have failed to meet the rigid criteria of the handful of emergency loan schemes at their disposal. In France, a solidarity fund was launched to secure support for small companies. Already 1bn euros have been dispensed to companies, with another 6 bn euros available to ventures struggling under the weight of the economy stalling  under the pandemic. In other news, the data privacy activist Johnny Ryan launched on Tuesday a complaint to the European Commission for failing to mete out sufficient fines to tech companies breaking GDPR. Along with an accusation that national governments are not taking their responsibilities to punish companie

Markets slumped to record lows as the European Commission delayed its intention to sign into law a bill allowing the European Central Bank to bankroll $1.3tn worth of businesses in dire financial straits.  As the pandemic exploded, investors rushed away from equities and into more secure gold and government bonds. The sharp turn in investment led to the worst performance of equities since 1987. As investors hoarded the US currency, the Fed tried to incentivise others to continue to believe in the rapid comeback of beleaguered companies by injecting $2.4bn into private markets via government lending schemes. Analysts worry that the funds will be quickly absorbed into the markets but not deliver the results intended of rescuing out-of-breath smaller economic actors. As jobless data emerged and showed the tip of what could be a much more remarkable downtick in numbers, analysts expect the aforementioned downturn to speed up and appear in the next quarter.