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Saudi Arabia and Russia ended their oil-price war, agreeing to a deal that will see oil-producing countries cut output by a record 9.7m barrels a day over the next two months, around 10% of global supply. There will be smaller cuts thereafter. The rally in oil markets that greeted the announcement soon faded, however. The International Energy Agency forecast that global demand for oil will fall by 9.3m barrels a day in 2020. This month “may go down as Black April in the history of the oil industry”, said the head of the agency.
沙特和俄羅斯結束了他們的石油價格戰爭，雙方達成了一項的協議，在接下來的兩個月里，每天減產970萬桶（創紀錄），約占全球供應量的10%。此后會有更小幅度的減產。然而，石油市場對這一消息的反彈很快就消退了。國際能源機構(IEA)預測，到2020年，全球石油需求將同比下降930萬桶/日。該機構負責人表示，該月“或將成為石油工業史上的黑色四月”。
In its direst warning yet about the effects of the pandemic, the IMF said that “the great lockdown” will result in the biggest economic downturn since the Depression. Assuming that COVID-19 and restrictions on daily life peak in the second quarter, the fund thinks global GDP will shrink by 3% this year, although advanced economies are expected to contract by an average 6.1%. If the crisis does not ease in the second half the world economy could shrink by a further 3%. The fund urged countries to continue with measures to slow the spread of the disease so that economic activity can resume.
國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)發出了迄今為止有關新冠大流行影響的最嚴重警告，稱“大封鎖”將導致自大蕭條(Depression)以來最嚴重的經濟低迷。假設新冠疫情和對日常生活的限制在第二季度達到高峰，該組織認為今年全球GDP將收縮3%，盡管發達經濟體預計將平均收縮6.1%。如果危機在下半年得不到緩解，那么全球經濟可能會進一步收縮3%。該組織敦促各國繼續采取措施減緩疫情蔓延，以便恢復經濟活動。
The Federal Reserve took more unprecedented measures to prop up the American economy, announcing a series of programmes that will provide $2.3trn in credit and support to households, businesses and state and local governments. The central bank is backing up to $600bn in loans to small and mid-sized firms, which must demonstrate a “reasonable effort” to retain staff. The Fed surprised markets by expanding its interventions to include buying stakes in exchange-traded funds that own risky, high-yield debt.
美聯儲采取了更多前所未有的措施來支撐美國經濟，宣布了一系列計劃，將向家庭、企業、州和地方政府提供2.3萬億美元的信貸和支持。美聯儲正在向中小企業發放至多6000億美元的貸款，這些貸款必須顯示出保留員工的“合理努力”。令市場意外的是，美聯儲擴大了干預范圍，包括購買持有高風險、高收益債券的交易所交易基金(ETF)的股份。
Irrational exuberance
不合理的繁榮
Stockmarkets continued to swing wildly. The s&p 500 had its best week since 1974 for the four days ending April 9th, rising by 12% (markets were closed on Good Friday).
股票市場繼續劇烈波動。標準普爾500指數在截至4月9日的四天里創下了1974年以來的最大單周漲幅，上漲了12%（金融市場因耶穌受難日休市）。
At an emergency meeting South Africa’s central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by another one percentage point, following a cut last month of the same size. The repo rate is now 4.25%, a record low. The move came after a further downgrade to credit ratings on South African debt, making it harder for the government to borrow.
在一次緊急會議上，南非央行將基準利率再次下調1個百分點，此前該行在上月也下調了同樣幅度的利率。回購利率目前為4.25%，創歷史新低。在此之前，南非的債務信用評級被進一步下調，導致政府借款難上加難。
The Asian Development Bank tripled the size of its aid package to member countries to $20bn. That includes some grants to governments to buy medical and personal protective equipment.
亞洲開發銀行將其對成員國的援助規模擴大了兩倍，至200億美元。這包括向政府提供一些撥款，用于購買醫療和個人防護設備。
Retail sales in America fell by 8.7% in March compared with February, the biggest decline since the official run of data began three decades ago.
與2月份相比，美國3月份的零售額下降了8.7%，這是自30年前官方數據開始統計以來的最大降幅。
Releasing their first-quarter earnings, big banks in America revealed that they are putting billions aside to guard against an expected surge in loan defaults. JPMorgan Chase’s credit costs rose to $8.3bn in the quarter, for example, resulting in a sharp fall in net profit, to $2.9bn.
美國各大銀行在發布第一季度財報時透露，他們準備撥出數十億美元以防范預期的貸款違約激增。例如，摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)本季度的信貸成本升至83億美元，導致凈利潤大幅下降至29億美元。
America’s biggest airlines said they had agreed to the terms of a $25bn bail-out from the government. Under the deal dividends will be suspended. American Airlines is to receive a direct grant of $4.1bn, a low-interest loan of $1.7bn, and will apply for a separate $4.8bn loan from the Treasury.
美國最大的幾家航空公司表示，他們已同意接受政府提供的250億美元的紓困條款。根據協議，股息將暫停發放。美國航空公司(American Airlines)將獲得41億美元的直接撥款和17億美元的低息貸款，并將額外從美國財政部申請48億美元的貸款。
In response to the surge in online shopping Amazon is employing another 75,000 staff, on top of the 100,000 additional workers it hired recently. In Seattle Amazon sacked two activist employees for continuing to post claims on Twitter that conditions at its warehouses during the pandemic are unsafe. In France Amazon closed its warehouses for cleaning after a court said it should do more to protect staff.
為了應對在線購物的激增，亞馬遜在最近增加10萬名員工的基礎上，又新增了7.5萬名員工。在西雅圖，亞馬遜解雇了兩名員工，原因是他們不斷在推特上抱怨稱，在新冠病毒大流行期間，公司倉庫的工作環境不安全。在法國，一家法院表示亞馬遜應該采取更多措施保護員工后，亞馬遜關閉了其倉庫進行消殺。
Amazon’s share price hit new highs. It is up by a third since mid-March, giving the company a market value of $1.15trn.
亞馬遜的股價再創新高。自3月中旬以來，該公司股價已上漲三分之一，使其市值達到1.15萬億美元。
Closing time
停業時間
Forced to shut without much notice, Britain’s pub industry pondered what to do with an estimated 50m pints of beer lying undrunk in cellars. The rules have been relaxed on reclaiming tax for ullage, or wasted beer, so that the man from the brewery does not need to be present when it is disposed of, though social distancing is making it hard to lift the full kegs. With pubs closed, alcohol sales in supermarkets have soared.
英國的酒吧行業在沒有接到太多通知的情況下被迫關門，他們在考慮如何處理酒窖里約5000萬品脫的啤酒。對于回收滯銷啤酒（廢棄啤酒）的征稅規定已經放寬，所以當處理這些啤酒時，釀酒廠的工作人員無需在場，盡管遵循社交距離導致人們無法開懷對飲。隨著酒吧停業，超市里的酒類銷量飆升。
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