GOVTS PLEDGE AID AS GLOBAL COMMERCE SEIZES IN FACE OF VIRUS

Governments and central banks are scrambling to find ways to keep businesses from going bankrupt as the virus outbreak grinds the world economy to a halt.

A day after Wall Street endured its worst daily drop since the crash of 1987, European markets wavered, while U.S. stocks recovered about half of their losses. There is tremendous volatility, with the extent of economic damage from the pandemic still anyone’s guess. Factories are closed, retail stores are closed, travel has ground almost to a halt and billions of people are sheltering at home, going outside only to find essential supplies.

Here is a look at how the outbreak is reshaping the global economy and how individuals, businesses and governments are responding.

GOVERNMENT & CENTRAL BANKS

Where to begin is an enormously complex question. Big industry and small business are looking at a complete, or nearly complete halt to operations. Restaurants that have been shuttered employ hundreds of thousands of people. Airlines are grounding flights, meaning no crews are needed. The dilemma afflicts every sector of the national and global economy. The risk of frozen economic activity will ripple outward, from the banking and mortgage industry, to services ranging from dog walking to doctors visits.

The U.S. Federal Reserve created a lending facility to buy short-term loans from banks and companies to ease the flow of credit as the economy grinds to a halt. The Fed announced that it’s reviving a program it first used during the 2008 financial crisis to unclog a short-term lending market for what is known as “commercial paper.” Large businesses issue commercial paper to raise cash to meet payrolls and cover other short-term costs. Borrowing rates in the commercial paper market have been spiking as more companies have sought to raise cash in the expectation that their revenue will plunge.