The Australian government just announced a $79.85 billion stimulus package to aid about 6 million people concerning their salaries for about six months, being this the third part of its general stimulus plan to face the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak.
“We must have a running economy to get through this,” announced the prime minister Scott Morrison during a news conference, "This is an incentive to keep people on, doing actual work ... they can keep them on the books, on the payrolls,” he added.
The Australian government has spent around 15 percent of the country's gross domestic product to face de economic consequences of the expansion of the coronavirus epidemic, which is affecting the global economic performance in a significant way. In the same way, the government has implemented social distancing measures whose purpose is aiding to contain the spread of the illness, like restricting public gatherings and shutting down public places. Currently, there are about 4,245 infected individuals in the country, and the death toll is at 18, which makes Australia one of the less affected countries in this regard.
The allowance would provide any company with losses over 30 percent of its revenue A$1,500 per employee for six months, which means that Australian citizens who lost their jobs because of the outbreak would be able to keep getting their salaries. The markets now expect that the fourth part of the plan will consist of aid to enable Australian citizens to keep paying their mortgages.
Australia's leading share market index S&P/ASX 200 closed on the positive territory at the end of today's session, adding 7 percent. By 9:44 GMT the Australian dollar went down by 0.09 percent against the US dollar, going down towards the 0.6159 level. Conversely, it went down against the Japanese Yen by 0.08 percent, falling to the 66.35 level.
German Council of Economic Advisors Warns Against an "Unavoidable" Recession
Meanwhile, the German council of economic advisors claimed that a recession in the first quarter of the current year is unavoidable and that the German gross domestic product could shrink significantly this year.
“The coronavirus outbreak has stopped the incipient recovery,” said the council on a report that was recently published, “The German economy will shrink significantly in 2020,” it added.
According to their assessment, the economy could shrink between 2.8 and 5.4 percent this year. They also foresee an economic recovery for next year, as the GDP could grow between 1 percent and 4.9 percent depending on the scenario.
By 10:03 GMT the German stock index DAX went down by 0.33 percent, falling to the 9,600.75 level. Conversely, the Euro went down against the US dollar by 0.65 percent, at 1.1068, and went down against the pound sterling by 0.15 percent, falling to the 0.8931 level.