(Recasts throughout, updates with details and latest actions)
March 23 (Reuters) - Policymakers and government leaders have employed a range of escalating and in some cases unprecedented
measures in an effort to mitigate the economic fallout from the coronavirus, from private sector loan guarantees to credit liquidity
intervention to direct fiscal stimulus.
Here is a list of how some of the world's biggest economies and economic blocs have responded thus far, starting with the latest
ones. This list will be updated with additional details as they are available. Some measures may require additional approval.
In addition to the actions listed here, most central banks have also cut benchmark rates, a full list of which is here.
Date Country Type Amount Amount Details (as reported by Reuters) Link
(local) (USD Bln)*
Mar 23 U.S. Credit Support n/a n/a The new programs mean the Fed will lend against student
(Fed) loans, credit card loans, and U.S. government backed-loans to
small businesses, and buy bonds of larger employers and make
loans to them in what amounts to four years of bridge
financing. A new "Main Street Business Lending Program" that
will extend credit to small- and-medium sized businesses will
also be announced "soon," the Fed said.
Mar 23 New Asset NZ$30 $17.0 The programme will purchase up to NZ$30 billion ($17 billion)
Zealand Purchases billion of New Zealand government bonds, across a range of
(RBNZ) maturities, in the secondary market over the next 12 months.
Mar 22 Australia Fiscal A$66.4 $38.5 Australia said any business with a turnover of less than A$50
Stimulus billion million will be eligible for A$100,000 in assistance. Welfare
payments for those who lose their jobs and those people
already receiving welfare will be increased. Morrison will
also say that Australia will also underwrite 50% of up A$40
billion in loans offered by local lenders to small and medium
sized companies.
Mar 21 Germany Emergency 150 $160.0 The package will include a supplementary government budget of
Budget billion 156 billion euros, 100 billion euros for an economic
euros stability fund that can take direct equity stakes in
companies, and 100 billion euros in credit to public-sector
development bank KfW for loans to struggling businesses. On
top of that, the stability fund will offer 400 billion euros
in loan guarantees to secure corporate debt at risk of
defaulting, taking the volume of the overall package to more
than 750 billion euros.
Mar 20 New Market Support n/a n/a The central bank announced emergency measures including term
Zealand loans to banks and an agreement with the U.S. Federal Reserve
(RBNZ) to access up to $30 billion to support the economy from the
impact of coronavirus.
Mar 20 US / U.S. Swap n/a n/a The Fed said that it would increase the frequency of 7-day
Cbanks Facility maturity operations from weekly to daily, starting on March
23, as part of its swap line arrangements with the Bank of
Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank
and Swiss National Bank.
Mar 20 UK Private Wage n/a n/a The centrepiece of Britain's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Payments is a new grant covering 80% of workers' salaries - up to a
maximum of 2,500 pounds ($2,930) a month each - if firms kept
them on. Britain also allowed businesses to temporarily hold
on to 30 billion pounds ($35 billion) of value-added tax
(VAT), which they would normally pass on to tax authorities.
Mar 20 UK Social 7 billion $8.2 Modest increases in the social security benefits payable to
security pounds workers who lose their jobs
increases
Mar 19 ECB Bond Purchases 750 $820.0 The ECB agreed to boost asset purchases to about 1.1 trillion
billion euros ($1.20 trillion) this year. The buys include 20 billion
euro euros a month as part of its already running quantitative
easing scheme, a one-off 120 billion euro increase in the
purchases and another one off 750 billion euros in a Pandemic
Emergency Purchase Programme.
Mar 19 Korea Financing 50 $39.0 emergency financing for small businesses and other stimulus
trillion measures. The government will issue loan guarantees for
won struggling small businesses with less than 100 million won
($78,000) in annual revenue to ensure they can easily and
cheaply get access to credit
Mar 19 Australia Quantitative n/a n/a The RBA's stimulus includes a three-year funding facility for
Easing at least A$90 billion to the country's banks at a fixed rate
of 0.25%. Lenders will be able to obtain initial funding of
up to 3% of their existing outstanding credit. It also set a
target for the yield on three-year Australian government
bonds at around 0.25%, which it plans to achieve by purchases
in the secondary market – the first time QE has been used in
the country
Mar 19 Australia Bond Purchases A$15 $8.3 In a separate statement, the government said it would buy
billion A$15 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities and
other asset backed securities over the next 12 months.
Mar 19 UK (BOE) Bond Purchases 200 $233.0 The 200 billion pound increase took the BoE's total asset
billion purchase plan to 645 billion pounds. BoE Governor Andrew
pounds Bailey said the buying would be front-loaded as the central
bank raced to counter chaos in financial markets that he said
had been "bordering on disorderly" in recent days.
Mar 18 Australia Airline A$715 $0.4 The Australian government said it would refund and waive
Support charges to airlines such as domestic air traffic control fees
worth A$715 million ($430 million), including A$159 million
upfront.
Mar 18 U.S. Fed Liquidity n/a n/a The Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility unveiled on
Facility Wednesday will make up to 1-year loans to financial
institutions that pledge as collateral high quality assets
like U.S. Treasury bonds that they have purchased from money
market mutual funds.
Mar 18 Canada Aid Package C$27 $18.6 The government will provide up to C$900 every two weeks to
billion workers who must stay home but do not qualify for
unemployment benefits, and a onetime special payment for low-
and modest-income households, among other measures
Mar 18 Canada Tax Deferrals C$55 $38.0 The government will provide C$55 billion ($38 billion) in
billion additional aid to businesses and households through tax
deferrals. The combined measures will put more than 3
percentage points of the country's annual output into
circulation, officials said.
Mar 18 Korea Dollar Supply n/a n/a The finance ministry and the Bank of Korea announced moves
that are expected to beef up dollar supply in the market by
$5 billion to $10 billion, as the coronavirus causes chaos in
global financial markets and a big demand for U.S. dollars.
Mar 17 New Fiscal NZ$12 $7.3 The fiscal package included wage subsidies, tax cuts, income
Zealand Stimulus billion support, investments into health and support for an aviation
sector hit hard by travel restrictions
Mar 17 France Aid Package 45 $50.2 The lion's share of the overall crisis package - 32 billion
billion euros - would come in the form of deferred taxes and payroll
euros charges for companies, and outright cancellation for firms at
risk of bankruptcy. Another 8.2 billion euros has been earmarked to reimburse
companies putting workers on reduced working schedules for
two months.
Mar 17 UK Loan 330 $399.0 All retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are included
Guarantees billion in the suspension of a property tax, alongside the new loan
pounds guarantee programme which was equivalent to 15% of British
economic output.
Mar 17 UK Business Tax 20 $24.2 Exemption from property taxes for all businesses in the
Cuts and billion retail, hospitality, leisure and childcare sectors, grants of
Grants pounds up to 25,000 pounds for firms in these sectors, and grants of
10,000 pounds for 700,000 very small businesses
Mar 17 UK (BoE) Commercial n/a n/a The BoE's Covid Corporate Financing Facility will buy
paper commercial paper with a maturity of up to 12 months from
purchases businesses which had an investment-grade credit rating or
similar pre-crisis.
Mar 17 EU State Loan n/a n/a Companies hit by the coronavirus will be allowed to receive
Waiver state grants up to 500,000 euros ($551,200) or subsidised
state guarantees on bank loans as part of new temporary
rules,
Mar 17 U.S. Fed Credit Flow n/a n/a The Fed will reopen the so-called Commercial Paper Funding
Facility Facility to underwrite the short-term loans that companies
often use to pay for their operations (Full Story), a key
financial market backstop first set up 2007 to 2009. This
includes $10 billion from the U.S. Treasury's Exchange
Stabilization Fund (ESF) to capitalize the new facility and
help shield the Fed from losses.
Mar 16 France Loan 300 $335.0 The government is guaranteeing up to 300 billion euros of
Guarantees billion corporate borrowing from commercial banks to keep credit
euros flowing to the economy.
Mar 16 Japan Cenbank Buying 12 $112.6 The BOJ decided to buy ETFs at an annual pace of around 12
(BOJ) trillion trillion yen ($112.55 billion), double the previous amount,
yen until markets stabilise from the recent rout. It will also
double the pace of purchases for Japanese real-estate trust
funds (J-REIT) to 180 billion yen per year, for the time
being
Mar 12 Australia Stimulus A$17.6 $11.4 The package will subsidise the wages of 120,000 apprentices,
billion offer one-off cash payments for welfare recipients and give
up to A$25,000 ($16,160) to small businesses. More than 6
million welfare recipients, notably pensioners and unemployed
citizens, will get a one-off cash payment of A$750 from March
31, he added.
Mar 11 UK Budget 30 $39.0 The cost of helping businesses and individuals was around 7
Stimulus Plan billion billion pounds while 5 billion pounds would go to the health
pounds service and other departments fighting the spread of the
virus. A further 18 billion pounds would go toward additional
stimulus.
Mar 11 UK (BoE) Looser bank 190 $244.0 The BoE said it was cutting banks' counter-cyclical capital
capital rules billion buffer (CCYB) to 0%, reversing a decision last year to raise
pounds it from 1% to 2% by the end of 2020, supporting up to 190
billion pounds of bank lending to businesses, equivalent to
13 times banks' net lending to businesses in 2019, and giving
them access to cheap 4-year credit to lend to small
businesses through its Term Funding Scheme with additional
incentives for SMEs (TFSME).
Mar 10 Japan 430.8 $4.1 The new package will fund improvements to medical facilities,
billion ease the supply and demand of masks, promote working from
yen home, and provide subsidies to working parents who must take
leave because of closed schools.
Mar 6 U.S. Spending $8.3 $8.3 Funds to be used to bolster the country's capacity to test
billion for coronavirus and fund other measures to stem an outbreak
Mar 5 Italy Spending 7.5 $8.4 The government would spend 7.5 billion euros ($8.40 billion)
billion and ask the European Union for the go-ahead to hike this
euros year's deficit goal, currently set at 2.2% of gross domestic
product
Mar 4 Korea Supplementary 11.7 $9.8 Of the 11.7 trillion won proposed, 3.2 trillion won will make
Budget trillion up for the revenue deficit while 8.5 trillion won will be
won extra fiscal injection.
Feb 25 China Lending Quotas 500 $70.0 China will increase yuan re-lending and re-discount quotas by
billion 500 billion yuan to help smaller banks increase support to
yuan small and medium-sized businesses. China will also increase
policy banks' loan quota by 350 billion yuan to make loans
targeting private, small and medium enterprises
(Reporting by Reuters Staff; editing by)
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