US ECONOMICS
CORONAVIRUS
U.S. Department of State. 04/03/2020. Briefing With Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officers for Operations, Deputy Assistant Secretary Hugo Yon, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee, Bureau of Consular Affairs On COVID-19: Updates on Health Impact and Assistance for American Citizens Abroad. Via Teleconference
- Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officers for Operations
- Hugo Yon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation AffairsBureau of Economic and Business Affairs
- Ian G. Brownlee, Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryBureau of Consular Affairs
Just a reminder that this call is on the record, and – but it is embargoed until the end of the call.
So to help us today, we have three briefers that are very familiar to all of you: Ian Brownlee, our Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary from Consular Affairs; our Dr. William Walters, Executive Director and Managing Director for Operational Medicine in our Bureau of Medical Services; and Hugo Yon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation Affairs in our Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
You’ve already been introduced to PDAS Brownlee and Walters – and Dr. Walters. DAS Yon has joined the call for the first time today to shed some light on logistics management and engagement with the global aviation industry, which is an integral part, an essential part, of the U.S. Government’s effort to help bring Americans home. Doc Walters will begin with some opening remarks, and then we’ll turn it over to DAS Yon. Following that, PDAS Brownlee will give the latest repatriation figures and we’ll take a few questions, as always.
Just a reminder, again, that this briefing is embargoed until the end of the call.
Doc Walters.
MR WALTERS: Thanks, Morgan. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for the opportunity to brief again today. Before I provide the latest statistics, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the tireless work of the department, its many partners, in ensuring the safety and welfare of Americans around the world in this unprecedented pandemic. I would specifically like to thank our private industry partners like Kalitta Air for their professionalism and dedication in safely completing over 10 evacuation missions on behalf of the department, bringing hundreds of Americans home from places like Wuhan, China or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Their speed and capability and flexibility have made it – our most difficult missions possible, and we can’t thank them enough.
Now moving on to the latest COVID-19 statistics for the Department of State, as of today, April 3rd, there are 108 confirmed cases overseas. There are 46 confirmed cases domestically, occurring in nine different cities. So far, there are no reported deaths domestically, but unfortunately there are now a total of three deaths overseas amongst our workforce.
Look forward to your questions.
MS ORTAGUS: Okay. DAS Yon.
MR YON: Well, thank you, Morgan. Good afternoon, everyone. I want to begin by reiterating the comments made earlier this week by Secretary Pompeo: There is no greater priority for the U.S. Government and the Department of State than getting Americans home safely.
In the midst of this global pandemic driving unprecedented travel restrictions for Americans abroad, our Economic Bureau team has been wholly dedicated to supporting the State Department-wide effort of evacuation and repatriation of American citizens. We’ve done this by relying on trusted methods of evacuating Americans overseas, and given the unprecedented global scale of the evacuation needs, we also had to create and deploy new ways of arranging more flights faster.
As of April 3rd, the U.S. Government has repatriated over 37,000 Americans on 409 flights from 39 countries. Now, over 17,000 of these Americans have returned home on commercial rescue flights – a new method we developed and at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer. That’s almost double the number of Americans now home than if we had solely relied on the pre-existing government-funded tool set.
We initiated commercial rescue flights by working directly with the U.S. airline industry so that they could find a way to give American travelers a greater range of options to find their way home. Then our U.S. embassies and consulates, supported by our Economic Bureau team, across the world secured the landing permits and special permissions after those countries closed their borders and airspace, and we got those permissions for these new commercial rescue flights.
So our diplomacy in dozens of countries and jurisdictions has made a huge difference. As a result, these commercial rescue flights met repatriation needs in many countries, freeing up the bandwidth of the department to focus on the U.S. Government-funded charters on the most difficult locations where airspace, border closures, and internal curfews have been the most severe. Sometimes these department-funded charters must go to the most far-flung locations in the world where U.S. airlines are not as well positioned to provide commercial service. Our airlines, both large and small, have answered the call to serve America in a new and unique way. In addition to repatriating Americans, our airlines have repurposed their aircraft to deliver vital medical supplies and goods back home.
Our team is working to keep global supply chains functioning in the teeth of this crisis. The Economic Bureau’s transportation division continues to work around the clock. The department is committed to draw on every resource in the U.S. Government’s arsenal, including the capabilities of our U.S. airlines to bring Americans home.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
MS ORTAGUS: Okay. DAS Brownlee.
MR BROWNLEE: Thank you very much, Morgan. Good afternoon. It’s nice to be back here with you once again. I know you’re probably tired of hearing from me, but I’m happy to have this opportunity to update you on our unprecedented worldwide efforts to bring Americans home in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a 24/7 operation that has been underway for weeks now, and our dedicated staff – both overseas and domestic – continue to give it their all to assist our fellow Americans in need.
Let me begin by updating the numbers. As of this morning, we have repatriated roughly 37,000 U.S. citizens from over 60 countries on more than 400 flights. That includes over 20,000 U.S. citizens repatriated in the past week alone. We have approximately 70 flights scheduled in the coming days which should bring back several thousand more U.S. citizens.
South Asia now has the most U.S. citizens wishing to return. So far, we’ve brought home almost 1,000 Americans from South Asia and are working aggressively to assist thousands more who have expressed an interest in returning. To date, we have helped repatriate over 5,000 U.S. citizens from Africa, and we continue to see demand for repatriation assistance in that region. We have repatriated nearly 25,000 individuals from Central and South America and continue to assist U.S. citizens across the hemisphere.
In Peru, we have received Peruvian Government approval for chartered repatriation flights through this Monday, April 6th, and we will continue to work with the Peruvian authorities and with the private sector to arrange additional flights. But again, we urge Americans who wish to return to the United States to do so as soon as possible and to take advantage of commercial opportunities where those still exist.
Peruvian authorities continue to work cooperatively with us to arrange these flights, even as they tighten public health restrictions in order to fight the pandemic. But we cannot foresee the effects of any future quarantine efforts. Each day and each night, but especially during a crisis like this, we are committed to keeping Americans well informed so they can navigate ever-changing travel conditions. Over the past 10 weeks, our 24-hour call centers handled over 33,000 calls from all over the world from concerned U.S. citizens or family members or loved ones of U.S. citizens.
Since early March, U.S. embassies and consulates have sent out over 14,000 messages through our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, a program I know you’ve heard me mention before, and I’ll say it again: step.state.gov. Please remind your audiences to register there at step.state.gov to get the latest messages from the country where they are located. We’re also seeing more than 4.9 million page visits to our travel.state.gov website.
Now, let me give you an example of how our messaging works; in this case, a case arising in Nepal: The U.S. embassy in Kathmandu began issuing health alerts on March 14th. These were posted to its website and sent to U.S. citizens enrolled in STEP. These alerts warned of potential quarantines and restrictions to airspace. Then on March 20th, the Government of Nepal announced it would close its airspace to all flights and severely restrict road travel effective March 24.
The embassy has been pushing out alerts to U.S. citizens nearly daily for almost two weeks, advising them of the health situation and of potential flights to the United States. Just this morning, our embassy in Nepal sent out another alert confirming they have organized a second repatriation flight to the United States this coming Sunday, April 5th. We are sending these types of alerts for all missions around the world via STEP, on our embassy and travel.state.gov websites, and on embassy social media and at our TravelGov Twitter feed. We are trying to get the message out on all our platforms so people have the timely information they need to get home.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a phone briefing with me if I didn’t stress the urgency of U.S. citizens taking advantage of flights that still exist now. For U.S. citizens contemplating whether or not to come home, the time to act is now. Flights will not continue indefinitely, but we want to do all we can to assist you while we are still able to do so.
So on behalf of our 24/7 taskforce, let me say Happy Friday to you. Only two more working days till Monday. I look forward to your questions.
MS ORTAGUS: Thanks so much. Ruben, why don’t you go ahead and start with calling the queue, and if anybody doesn’t remember, please press 1 and then 0 if you’d like to ask a question.
MR HARUTUNIAN: Nick Wadhams has the first question.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks. I just had a question about the number of State Department deaths and a testing question. The first is: Can you give us any more information about the employee, the third person who had died or what country that was in and any other information you can give us?
And second, does State currently have a standard policy on testing? Do – for example, people who think they may be – may have the virus but are not showing symptoms, are they able to get tested? What is the standard guidance on department employees getting tested? Thanks.
MR WALTERS: So as to the first question, I can tell you that it was a locally-employed staff member overseas. I don’t – can’t really go into any further detail because it becomes easier and easier to identify individual people when you do that, so I’m afraid I can’t.
With regard to testing, domestically we all exist within a broad public health architecture. From an occupational health perspective, we have a responsibility to protect the workforce, but we live within and work within the city of Washington, D.C., or in Virginia or Maryland, and ultimately testing and contact tracing is a local and state responsibility and authority. And so we cooperate very closely with the state and local and county public health teams to make sure that we keep the workforce safe and make sure testing is used appropriately.
MR HARUTUNIAN: Great. Next question is from the line of Matt Lee.
QUESTION: Hi, there. Thanks. Sorry, I was – I missed part of the answer to Nick’s question because of Elmo, but – (laughter) – did you, Doc Walters, say that the third death was a locally employed staffer? And is it correct that there are still no American staffers overseas who have been —who have succumbed?
And then secondly, the – how many of the more than 400 flights that Ian is talking about were commercial flights that – for which the U.S. Government did not have to pay anything? Thank you.
MR WALTERS: Thanks, Matt. I can answer the first part and then I’ll hand over to Ian and DAS Yon for the last part.
Yeah, so locally employed staff member overseas – we are not aware of any chief of mission personnel overseas who have succumbed to the illness.
MR BROWNLEE: Hugo, I’ll defer to you if you’re able to answer the question about how many were arranged commercially. Over.
MR YON: Matt, I don’t have that at my fingertips at the moment. I’m going to look that up and I may come back just in a few minutes with that number, okay? Over.
MS ORTAGUS: Okay. Ruben, let’s go to the next question while we’re waiting on that.
MR HARUTUNIAN: Michele Kelemen.
QUESTION: I have a question about – a specific question about something today, this Aeroflot plane out of Moscow was all loaded up and then canceled. I wonder if you have any sense of why that was. It seems like a pretty chaotic scene there, and I thought that it was coming here to repatriate Russians back to Moscow. And the more broad question I have is about the cost of these commercial rescue flights. Does the State Department have any control over how much these companies are charging people? Because there was some concern from people in Guinea, for instance, that it was $3,500 a ticket and that they had to pay in cash. Thanks.
MR BROWNLEE: Michele, Ian here. I’ll let Hugo address the second question. We were not tracking this Aeroflot flight. I’m just checking my notes now. Bear with me a sec, but I don’t think we were tracking that one. Checking, checking.
Why don’t we let Hugo answer the second question? If I come up with anything, I’ll bust back in. Over.
MR YON: Yeah, hi. This is Hugo. Thank you for that question. These are – these commercial flights, what we do is we ask the airlines to volunteer to serve a country, and if they volunteer to provide the flight, we get the clearances for them. The pricing, it’s commercial basis, so based on their cost and their own calculations, they put a price out there. So we do not have a influence on that because they’re volunteering to serve. Over.
MR HARUTUNIAN: Next question is from Kylie Atwood.
MR BROWNLEE: So – Ian here, I may have something on the – on Michele’s question. Just a moment, please. Just a moment, sorry. Sorry. Loading, loading.
No, I’m sorry. I have nothing further on that. If we get more on it, Michele, we’ll get back to you. Over.
MR HARUTUNIAN: Kylie, go ahead.
MS ORTAGUS: Kylie Atwood, are you there?
QUESTION: Sorry, I was muted. Can you hear me?
MR HARUTUNIAN: Yes.
QUESTION: Okay, great. So with regard more broadly to Americans in Russia, I noticed that Russia isn’t on the list of the countries where the U.S. Government has repatriated Americans from. What is the reason for that? Is it because there have been regular commercial flights coming in and out of Russia so you guys haven’t needed to focus there? And we are seeing some reports in local Russian state media that they are going to be cutting off all of their commercial flights Friday at midnight. So what is the status generally of what the State Department is doing to make sure they can get American citizens out of there?
And then just with regard to assistance coming in from other countries to the United States, who’s in charge of coordinating efforts to kind of streamline everything that’s coming in from China, Russia, other countries? Does that rely on the State Department, is it the task force, is it DHS? Whose responsibility is it? Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: Ian here. The aid question is not – we are – I’m sorry. My group is seeking to repatriate U.S. citizens from overseas, so we are not tracking questions regarding aid from overseas. The State Department does have another element that may well be tracking this, or it might be happening at the White House level. So I think we’ll have to get back to you on that question.
With regard to Russia, this is a good example of what we’ve been saying, that people should avail themselves of existing commercial opportunities because they do go away at some point. And therefore, we have not had to repatriate people from Russia till now. Another good example is Nicaragua, where Aeromexico has flights going out of Managua into Mexico City still, and from there people can get onward flights. So what we’re doing in Managua is helping U.S. citizens make arrangements on those commercial flights – those U.S. citizens who seek to leave Nicaragua – make arrangements on those flights so they can move on to their ultimate destination. Over.
MS ORTAGUS: Okay. I think we have Nick Kalman from Fox next.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks. I wanted to see if State was tracking any U.S. citizens on work visas being detained in Vietnam? A family of one reached out to us saying he was taken from his apartment there a couple weeks ago and has been shuffled around to holding centers ever since. They say they were doing self-isolation that their employer had directed when they were rounded up. Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: Yeah, Ian here. We’re aware of some U.S. citizens who have been detained in Vietnam. However, for privacy reasons I can’t go into any particular cases. Over.
MS ORTAGUS: Okay, great. I think we have Carol Morello next.
QUESTION: Hi. Thanks very much. Can you hear me?
MR HARUTUNIAN: Yes.
MS ORTAGUS: We can hear you.
QUESTION: Great. I was hoping you could give a little bit more clarification on the situation in Peru. I thought I heard you say that the last flight out would be on Monday but that you were going to continue to try to make arrangements for charter flights. So I was wondering if you could expand on that a little bit. And also, if you are aware of any countries where the last flights out are looming. Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: Yeah, thank you, Carol. The situation in Peru is this. We had a hiatus yesterday, April 2nd. We had – were a number of flights up through April 1st. We had a hiatus yesterday. Flights resume today, April 3rd. We have several coming out today. We will have several running through the weekend and through Monday. We are talking to the Peruvian Government about getting permissions for subsequent flights if needed. And that’s an important caveat at this point, because we are finding that demand particularly in Peru seems to be fluctuating. I’ve mentioned to you guys before that we’ve had people show up at the airport literally with suitcases in hand and then decide to stay. As we put out calls saying is anybody else out there, we find new people coming in even now saying, “Well, yeah, I thought I’d bring myself forward.” It remains a somewhat dynamic number as to how many want to come out of Peru, and if need be, we will continue.
We are also – and Hugo might be able to shed more light on this – we are talking to the commercial carriers about resuming direct bill operations into Peru in lieu of the State Department chartered flights. The bottom line: Got flights through Monday, talking about more, we might want to – we might go the commercial option. Hugo, do you want to say anything on that score?
MR YON: Absolutely. This is Hugo. Yes, in Peru that is correct. It is actually the Peruvian Government has – after we’ve done a number of these charter flights from the State Department, the Peruvian government has softened and are willing to let some limited commercial rescue flights go in, so we are in discussions actively now with our U.S. airlines to provide that lift in future days.
Let me also just give the number that Matt had asked about in terms of the commercial rescue flights, how many number. The number we’ve gotten from our airlines collectively is 166 flights that carried the over 17,000, and each day that does grow – 166 flights. Over.
MS ORTAGUS: Great, thank you. Conor Finnegan.
QUESTION: Hey, thanks for doing this. Just a couple quick questions. First of all, Ian, when you say that you weren’t tracking the flight from Russia, that’s because it was a commercial flight, correct? And are you now going to have to start looking into different options to get Americans out?
Do you have an update to the total number of Americans still overseas who are asking for help, and then specifically on Peru, there are a lot of Americans in remote areas. Are you still doing busing or other ways of getting them to Lima or Cusco to get them out, and are you considering outside contractors to do some of that work, like Warrior Angel Rescue.
MR BROWNLEE: Sure. Let me go back to the Russia question. You’re absolutely correct, we were not tracking – I was not tracking that flight, but I’ve received an email since I was asked that question saying yes, it was a commercial plane. We don’t know – at this point know why it was literally on the tarmac taxiing when it was denied permission to take off. We don’t know why that would be. The Russian Government apparently denied it permission to take off. We will look at other options for helping U.S. citizens return from Russia now that that last commercial flight has been pulled down.
The total number we’re looking at overseas at this point is – and bear with me a moment – we are tracking approximately – we’re looking at about 22,000 overseas still. The greatest number of those – certainly the plurality of those – are in South and Central Asia, many of them in India. We’re also looking at a large number of people still in the Western Hemisphere – in WHA – and Africa. It’s really those three regions are the bulk of people who are overseas, but the total number we’re tracking is about 22,000.
In – with regard to Peru, yes, we’re still running what we call sweeper operations to bring people in from remote areas. In some cases this is by bus, in some cases we’re using the INL, the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement plane. It’s a 15-passenger plane, so we’ve sent that out to a number of remote areas to bring people into Lima for repatriation. Other people are being brought in, as you say, by NGOs such as Angel Warrior. But we’re running a pretty effective operation, I think, pulling people out of the remoter areas. Over.
MS ORTAGUS: Great, thank you. We have time for one more question and that’s from Lara Jakes.
QUESTION: Hi. I wanted to say I appreciated the comments about that there’s just two more working days until Monday. I think we all share that sentiment.
I wanted to ask about the situation of some Chinese students who are stuck in the United States because China is not doing the evacuations of students from this country. Wondering if the State Department is tracking that or assisting them in any way. Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: Thanks, Lara. I’m not aware that we are tracking Chinese students in the United States who are seeking assistance inasmuch as we are seeking to repatriate U.S. citizens from overseas. I’d have to ask you to come back and maybe talk to our colleagues in the East Asia-Pacific Bureau about that. Thank you. Over.
MS ORTAGUS: Lara, we’ll take – we’ll get that as a taken question and get back to you on that, and I have a taken question for Kylie as well. All right, thanks everybody for dialing in today. We’ll have at least one if not two briefings on Monday, so have a great weekend. Thank you.
As of April 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of State has coordinated the repatriation of 38,296 Americans from 78 countries since January 29, 2020.
Since early March, U.S. embassies and consulates have sent out over 1,400 messages through our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.
FED. April 03, 2020. Joint Press Release. Federal agencies encourage mortgage servicers to work with struggling homeowners affected by COVID-19
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Conference of State Bank Supervisors
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- National Credit Union Administration
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Under the CARES Act, borrowers in a federally backed mortgage loan experiencing a financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 pandemic, may request forbearance by making a request to their mortgage servicer and affirming that they are experiencing a financial hardship during the COVID–19 pandemic. In response, servicers must provide a CARES Act forbearance, that allows borrowers to defer their mortgage payments for up to 180-days and possibly longer.
The policy statement clarifies that the agencies do not intend to take supervisory or enforcement action against mortgage servicers for delays in sending certain early intervention and loss mitigation notices and taking certain actions relating to loss mitigation set out in the mortgage servicing rules, provided that servicers are making good faith efforts to provide these notices and take these actions within a reasonable time.
To further enable short-term payment forbearance programs or short-term repayment plans, mortgage servicers offering these programs or plans will not have to provide an acknowledgement notice within 5 days of receipt of an incomplete application, provided the servicer sends the acknowledgment notice before the end of the forbearance or repayment period.
The guidance also reminds servicers that there is existing flexibility in the rules with respect to the content of certain notices. Finally, to assist servicers experiencing high call volumes from consumers seeking help, the policy statement also confirms that the agencies do not intend to take supervisory or enforcement action against mortgage servicers for delays in sending annual escrow statements, provided that servicers are making good faith efforts to provide these statements within a reasonable time.
FULL DOCUMENT: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20200403a1.pdf
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CORONAVIRUS
IMF. 04/03/2020. OP-ED: how best to tackle the pandemic—reframing the false dilemma of having to choose between saving lives and saving livelihoods
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote an op-ed about how best to tackle the pandemic—reframing the false dilemma of having to choose between saving lives and saving livelihoods.
"Getting the virus under control is, if anything, a prerequisite to saving livelihoods," they wrote. "Paying salaries to doctors and nurses, supporting hospitals and emergency rooms, establishing make-shift field clinics, buying protective gear and essential medical equipment, and carrying out public awareness campaigns about simple measures like hand washing are critical investments to protect people against the pandemic."
More broadly, this past week we published a number of blogs detailing our most recent analytical work and research on how the novel coronavirus is impacting the global economy:
- Economic Policies for the COVID-19 War by Giovanni Dell’Ariccia (Research), Paolo Mauro (Fiscal Affairs), Antonio Spilimbergo (Research), and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Strategy, Policy and Review)
- In It Together: Protecting the Health of Africa’s People and their Economies by Karen Ongley and Abebe Aemro Selassie of the African Department
- Europe’s COVID-19 Crisis and the Fund’s Response by Poul M. Thomsen of the European Department
We are also regularly updating our global policy tracker to help our member countries be more aware of the experiences of others in combating COVID-19. The tracker now covers 193 economies and focuses on discretionary actions that supplement existing social safety nets and insurance mechanisms, and summarizes key economic responses governments are taking to limit the impact of the pandemic. Since launching just over a week ago, more than 100,000 people have explored this comprehensive database of policy insight.
Some say there is a trade-off: save lives or save jobs – this is a false dilemma
- An Op-ed first published on The Telegraph by Kristalina Georgieva and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
At face value there is a trade-off to make: either save lives or save livelihoods. This is a false dilemma – getting the virus under control is, if anything, a prerequisite to saving livelihoods.
This is what brings the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so closely together – the WHO is there to protect the health of people and well-placed to advise on health priorities; the IMF exists to protect the health of the world economy – it advises on economic priorities, and also helps provide financing.
Our joint appeal to policymakers, especially in emerging market and developing economies, is to recognise that protecting public health and putting people back to work go hand-in-hand.
The WHO is on the front line of this crisis by the virtue of its mandate, but so is the IMF. In the short time since COVID-19 started spreading across the world, the demand for IMF financing has skyrocketed.
Never in the 75 years history of the institution have so many countries – 85 so far – found themselves in need of IMF emergency financing. And this financing is being made available in record short time, with the first projects already being approved and money disbursed to provide much needed assistance to shield countries against dramatic increase in financial needs at a time of sudden drop in economic activities and in revenues.
As financing to support severely constrained public budgets reaches the countries in need, our joint plea is to place health expenditures at the top of the priority list.
Paying salaries to doctors and nurses, supporting hospitals and emergency rooms, establishing make-shift field clinics, buying protective gear and essential medical equipment, carrying out public awareness campaigns about simple measures like hand washing – these are critical investments to protect people against the pandemic.
In far too many places health systems are unprepared for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients and it is paramount to give them a boost.
And this can and must go together with support for economy-wide priorities required to reduce unemployment, minimise bankruptcies and, over time, ensure recovery.
They come in addition to – not as a substitute for – health spending, and aim to provide targeted support to most-affected households and firms, including cash transfers, wage subsidies, and short-time work, strengthening unemployment benefits and social safety nets, and limiting the rise in borrowing costs.
We recognise how difficult it is to strike the right balance. Economic activity is plummeting as infections and measures to combat the pandemic affect workers, firms, and supply chains, job losses and uncertainty drag down spending, financial conditions sharply tighten, and the oil price collapse hits commodity exporters – all with cross-border spillovers.
In countries with large informal economies families depend on daily wages to survive. Highly congested urban slums make social distancing impossible .
We are convinced, however, that emergency financing can only help if countries strike this balance. The WHO can help in vital areas for coordination such as ensuring the production and delivery of medical supplies to those in need, in an effective, efficient, and equitable manner – by facilitating advance purchase agreements, for example.
The WHO is also working with suppliers of personal protective equipment for health workers to ensure that supply chains are functioning. And this is an area where collaboration with other international organisations can be so effective – for example, the World Bank’s capacity to aggregate demand to purchase medical supplies in bulk.
The IMF for its part aims to help by doubling its emergency response capacity from $50 billion up to $100 billion – making it possible for countries to get twice as much money from the Fund as had been made available during emergencies. Its total lending capacity of $1 trillion is now secured thanks to decisive actions of its membership.
The Fund is also increasing its capacity to ease debt service obligations of its poorest members through the Catastrophe Containment Relief Trust for which generous donors are providing grant resources. And together with the World Bank it is advocating for a standstill of debt service from the poorest countries to official bilateral creditors for as long as the world economy is paralysed by the pandemic.
The course of the global health crisis and the fate of the global economy are inseparably intertwined. Fighting the pandemic is a necessity for the economy to rebound. That is why the WHO and IMF are cooperating closely with one another, and with other international organisations, to help address countries’ priority needs.
As we all work together, with little time and finite resources, it is essential that we focus on the right priorities to save lives and livelihoods. Our joint appeal is that in one of humanity's darkest hours, leaders must step up right now for people living in emerging markets.
Kristalina Georgieva is Managing Director of the IMF, and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is Director-General of the WHO.
FULL DOCUMENT: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/04/03/vs-some-say-there-is-a-trade-off-save-lives-or-save-jobs-this-is-a-false-dilemma?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
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ECONOMIA BRASILEIRA / BRAZIL ECONOMICS
CORONAVÍRUS
MRE. DCOM. NOTA-55. 03 de Abril de 2020. Nota conjunta do Ministério das Relações Exteriores e do Ministério da Economia - Iniciativa do MERCOSUL no combate ao novo coronavírus
O Conselho do Mercado Comum, órgão superior do MERCOSUL, integrado pelos chanceleres e ministros da Economia dos quatro países membros, aprovou, em 30/03, a destinação imediata de cerca de US$ 6 milhões do seu fundo de desenvolvimento – FOCEM – para iniciativa de combate à COVID-19 nos quatro países do bloco. No Brasil, a Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) receberá US$ 1,3 milhão.
Adicionalmente, foi aprovado um fundo reserva de US$ 10 milhões também destinado ao combate à pandemia.
Os recursos serão empregados na aquisição de insumos, equipamentos, roupas de proteção, kits de diagnóstico, no aumento da produção de kits de diagnóstico, bem como no desenvolvimento e produção de um teste para sorodiagnóstico.
A iniciativa está em consonância com a "Declaração dos Presidentes do MERCOSUL sobre coordenação regional para a contenção e mitigação do coronavírus e seu impacto", de 18 de março de 2020.
PR. COVID-19. 03/04/2020. Economia anuncia R$ 34 bilhões do Tesouro para empresas manterem seus funcionários. Medida provisória atenderá 1,4 milhão de empresas do país e cerca de 12 milhões de empregados
O governo federal aportará R$ 34 bilhões para que pequenas e médias empresas brasileiras possam manter seus empregados nos próximos dois meses, auxiliando aquelas que eventualmente tiverem suas atividades reduzidas durante a crise decorrente da pandemia. A medida provisória anunciada nesta sexta-feira (3/4), batizada de MP da Folha de Pagamento, dará fôlego para 1,4 milhão de empresas diferentes no país, responsáveis por empregar cerca de 12 milhões de pessoas.
Como contrapartida à ação do governo, as empresas não poderão demitir seus funcionários sem justa causa por um prazo de dois meses após a obtenção dos recursos. Durante entrevista concedida à imprensa para detalhar a medida, o secretário especial de Fazenda, Waldery Rodrigues, explicou que esses recursos serão liberados pelo Tesouro Nacional como crédito às empresas, que terão 36 meses para pagar (considerando os seis meses de carência).
A taxa de juro será de 3,75 por cento ao ano para o tomador, sendo que nenhuma instituição financeira envolvida no processo cobrará spread bancário (taxa normalmente cobrada pelos bancos para realizar o empréstimo).
“Uma das diretrizes básicas do Ministério da Economia durante esse período é a manutenção do emprego”, ressaltou Waldery, apontando que essa é mais uma medida implementada pelo governo nesse sentido, em complemento a outras já anunciadas, como por exemplo o apoio de R$ 600 reais aos trabalhadores informais.
“A MP da Folha de Pagamento foi uma iniciativa do Ministério da Economia com o Banco Central e será operacionalizada pelo BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social). O programa leva em consideração não apenas a receita das empresas, mas também a faixa salarial delas”, informou.
Para o diretor de Regulação do Banco Central, Otávio Damaso, a novidade é importante, pois os recursos serão utilizados, exclusivamente, para pagamento de salários, os quais representam um compromisso mensal bastante significativo para as empresas. Segundo ele, a medida beneficiará empresas com receita bruta anual entre R$ 360 mil e R$ 10 milhões. “O dinheiro entrará diretamente na conta do trabalhador”, destacou, acrescentando que o programa cobrirá uma parcela de empregados que ganham até dois salários mínimos. “Caberá às empresas que tenham salários acima desse valor o compromisso de honrar o pagamento aos seus funcionários”, observou.
Damaso frisou, também, que conforme as empresas forem pagando as parcelas do empréstimo os recursos voltarão aos cofres da União. “O compartilhamento dos recursos e também dos riscos será do Tesouro e das instituições financeiras que participarem, sendo 85% do aporte feito pela União e 15% pelas próprias instituições”, informou, apontando que o BNDES será o agente da União no programa, sem receber nenhuma remuneração. Ao Banco Central caberá a fiscalização do cumprimento das ações junto às instituições participantes, acompanhando o fluxo do dinheiro e assegurando que está caindo na conta do trabalhador.
O secretário executivo do Ministério da Economia, Marcelo Guaranys, anunciou ainda que nos próximos dias deverá ser realizada uma reunião extraordinária do Conselho Monetário Nacional para estabelecer os procedimentos operacionais, apesar de a própria MP já trazer as principais diretrizes.
Leque de opções às empresas
O secretário especial de Previdência e Trabalho, Bruno Bianco, reiterou na entrevista que o leque de medidas anunciadas nesta semana pela Economia visa a atender todos os empregados do Brasil, tanto aqueles que têm registro formal como os que estão na informalidade. “Foi apresentada uma caixa de ferramentas para empregadores e empregados. São medidas complementares para grupos de pessoas que fazem com que a economia se movimente”, observou.
Também presente à coletiva, representando a Secretaria de Produtividade, Emprego e Competitividade, o secretário Diogo Marc Cord disse que nos últimos dias a Economia estabeleceu contato com mais de 150 associações que representam o setor produtivo, ouvindo sugestões e homogeneizando soluções. “É importante ressaltar que onde tem uma empresa saudável tem um trabalhador amparado. As associações nos repassaram cerca de mil sugestões, sendo que a grande maioria se referia a questões trabalhistas e de crédito, que é o que estamos endereçando”, disse.
Impacto fiscal
Ao final da coletiva, o secretário especial Waldery Rodrigues fez um balanço do impacto fiscal das medidas já anunciadas para enfrentamento da Covid-19 no Brasil, tanto pelo lado da renúncia de receitas como de aumento das despesas. De acordo com ele, as ações já acumulam um impacto de R$ 224,6 bilhões, ou 2,97% do Produto Interno Bruto, sendo que esses números consideram a última grade de parâmetros da Secretaria de Política Econômica, em que estava previsto um crescimento para 2020 de 0,02% do PIB.
Waldery lembrou que as estimativas atuais de mercado já indicam projeções negativas para o PIB, por isso, disse que em breve outras avaliações poderão ser anunciadas pelo Ministério em relação ao impacto. “O déficit primário estimado, hoje, é de R$ 419,2 bilhões, ou 5,65% do PIB, o maior da série histórica, justificado pelas ações imediatas que estão sendo tomadas. A Economia seguirá atendendo às demandas do Ministério da Saúde, o que poderá elevar esse comprometimento a mais de 6% do PIB”, explicou, reforçando que em 2021 o caminho é a retomada do equilíbrio fiscal.
ECONOMIA
BACEN. Apresentação do Presidente do BC, Roberto Campos Neto, no evento virtual XP Live Conference, organizado pela XP Investimentos.
DOCUMENTO: https://www.bcb.gov.br/detalhenoticia/17031/nota
DESIGUALDADE
IPEA. 03/04/2020. Livro do Ipea analisa políticas para a redução das desigualdades no Brasil. Gestores e pesquisadores de diversas instituições relatam experiências nas áreas de saúde, educação e assistência social
Como superar os obstáculos que impedem o Brasil de se integrar ao rol das nações desenvolvidas e quais devem ser os atributos econômicos, sociais e políticos desse processo? Essa análise é o foco do livro Implementação de Políticas e Atuação de Gestores Públicos: Experiências Recentes das Políticas de Redução das Desigualdades, lançado nesta quarta-feira, 01, pelo Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea). A discussão central da obra está relacionada com a capacidade do Estado de exercer o papel de agente implementador de políticas e, assim, agir de maneira mais efetiva em prol da população.
A publicação reúne experiências que levaram à redução de desigualdades nas áreas de saúde, educação e assistência nos três níveis da Federação (federal, estadual e municipal) nas últimas décadas. Organizado por pesquisadoras do Ipea, da Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), PUC/RJ e da Universidade da Cidade de São Paulo (Unicid), em parceria com 14 gestores públicos, o livro fornece um diagnóstico sobre os entraves enfrentados para a redução das desigualdades, contribuindo para o debate de projetos implementados no país e de políticas públicas que acelerem e garantam a sustentabilidade desse processo.
O enfoque básico é que as instituições são importantes para o desenvolvimento. E que o Estado, interagindo com diversos atores sociais, precisa ter a capacidade de implementar políticas públicas, adaptando-as aos objetivos do desenvolvimento em cada etapa da economia brasileira. Para a diretora-adjunta de Estudos e Políticas do Estado, das Instituições e da Democracia do Ipea, Janine Mello, o não reconhecimento da relevância das políticas sociais e da redução das desigualdades como parte fundamental das estratégias sustentáveis de desenvolvimento dos países produz impactos negativos na implementação das ações nas áreas de saúde, educação e assistência social nos três níveis federativos.
Segundo ela, “nestes contextos, soluções pontuais, de baixa escala, dependentes da participação substantiva da iniciativa privada, ou ainda de teor filantrópico ou voluntário, ganham espaço e reforçam, mais uma vez, pressupostos que reduzem a área social a meras medidas compensatórias, paliativas e fragmentadas”.
O livro tem onze capítulos, estruturados em duas partes. A primeira aborda aspectos que permeiam o debate brasileiro sobre a implementação de políticas públicas e suas relações com a discussão da capacidade estatal e burocrática. A segunda parte traz relatos de gestoras e gestores públicos que estiveram envolvidos em políticas voltadas para a redução das desigualdades nas áreas de saúde, educação e assistência social.
Os capítulos versam sobre a eficiência do investimento público nos municípios, estados e na federação, os desafios e avanços na implantação das iniciativas. Um dos objetivos do livro é dar visibilidade à perspectiva de gestores que atuaram na execução das políticas, a partir do compartilhamento de experiências. Todos esses aspectos institucionais setoriais têm impacto direto no processo de formação de capital na economia e, portanto, na aceleração da taxa de crescimento econômico e na mudança estrutural necessária ao desenvolvimento.
“Os resultados apresentados sugerem que instituições como o Ipea devem incorporar permanentemente uma agenda de desenho e análise de arranjos institucionais, processos de governança e efeitos sobre as capacidades estatais ao longo das etapas de formulação, execução e avaliação das políticas públicas voltadas ao desenvolvimento social e econômico do Brasil”, conclui Janine Mello.
Implementação de Políticas e Atuação de Gestores Públicos: Experiências Recentes das Políticas de Redução das Desigualdades: https://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/images/stories/PDFs/livros/200403_implementacao_politica_web.pdf
ENERGIA
ANP. 03 de Abril de 2020. ANP divulga Boletim Mensal da Produção de fevereiro
A ANP está divulgando o Boletim Mensal da Produção de Petróleo e Gás Natural com dados detalhados de fevereiro de 2020. Neste mês, foram produzidos de 3,783 MMboe/d (milhões de barris de óleo equivalente por dia), sendo 2,972 MMbbl/d (milhões de barris por dia) de petróleo e 129 MMm3/d (milhões de m3 por dia) de gás natural.
A produção de petróleo reduziu 6,2% se comparada com o mês anterior e aumentou 19,4% na comparação com fevereiro de 2019. Já a de gás natural reduziu 7,1% em relação a janeiro e aumentou 17,1% na comparação com o mesmo mês do ano anterior.
A queda na produção de petróleo e gás natural em comparação com o mês anterior foi provocada principalmente pela ocorrência de paradas programadas e outras necessárias para a mitigação de riscos de segurança operacional em algumas instalações. Porém, cabe ressaltar que os volumes produzidos em fevereiro de 2020 foram superiores àqueles previstos no Plano Anual de Produção (PAP) desde ano, cujos volumes eram 2,762 MMbbl/d de petróleo e 119,291 MMm3/d de gás natural. Esse aumento da produção em relação ao previsto ocorreu, principalmente, pela redução da duração da parada programada do FPSO Cidade de Maricá, no campo de Lula e pela postergação de parada programada de outra unidade.
Pré-sal
A produção no Pré-sal em fevereiro teve origem em 118 poços e correspondeu a 66% da produção nacional, totalizando 2,497 MMboe/d, sendo 1,993 MMbbl/d de petróleo e 80,129 MMm3/d de gás natural. Em relação ao mês anterior, a produção total diminuiu 6,9% e, em relação a fevereiro de 2019, aumentou 36,8%.
Aproveitamento do gás natural
Em fevereiro, o aproveitamento de gás natural foi de 97,2%. Foram disponibilizados ao mercado 61,4 MMm³/dia. A queima de gás no mês foi de 3,644 MMm³/d, uma redução de 9,7% se comparada ao mês anterior e de 28,7% se comparada ao mesmo mês em 2019.
Origem da produção
Os campos marítimos produziram 96,7% do petróleo e 82,8% do gás natural. Os campos operados pela Petrobras produziram 93,3% do petróleo e do gás natural. Com relação aos campos operados pela Petrobras e com participação exclusiva da empresa, produziram 39,5% do total.
Destaques
O campo de Lula, na Bacia de Santos, foi o maior produtor de petróleo e gás natural, registrando 974 Mbbl/d de petróleo e 41,3 MMm3/d de gás natural.
A plataforma FPSO Cidade de Mangaratiba, produzindo no campo de Lula por meio de oito poços a ela interligados, produziu 147,577 Mbbl/d de petróleo e 7,917 MMm³/d de gás natural, sendo a instalação com maior produção de ambos.
Estreito, na Bacia Potiguar, teve o maior número de poços produtores terrestres: 1.081.
Marlim Sul, na Bacia de Campos, foi o campo marítimo com maior número de poços produtores: 71.
Campos de acumulações marginais
Esses campos produziram 64,6 bbl/d de petróleo e 14,4 Mm³/d de gás natural. O campo de Iraí, operado pela Petroborn, foi o maior produtor, com 87,4 boe/d.
Outras informações
No mês de fevereiro de 2020, 295 áreas concedidas, duas áreas de cessão onerosa e cinco de partilha, operadas por 34 empresas, foram responsáveis pela produção nacional. Dessas, 76 são marítimas e 226 terrestres, sendo nove relativas a contratos de áreas contendo acumulações marginais. A produção ocorreu em 7.141 poços, sendo 645 marítimos e 6.496 terrestres.
O grau API médio foi de 27,7, sendo 3,4% da produção considerada óleo leve (>=31°API), 83,2% óleo médio (>=22 API e <31 13="" api="" e="" leo="" p="" pesado="">
As bacias maduras terrestres (campos/testes de longa duração das bacias do Espírito Santo, Potiguar, Recôncavo, Sergipe e Alagoas) produziram 103 Mboe/d, sendo 81,7 mil bbl/d de petróleo e 3,4 MMm³/d de gás natural. Desse total, 90,6 mil boe/d foram produzidos pela Petrobras e 12,4 mil boe/d foram produzidos por concessões não operadas pela Petrobras, dos quais: 342 boe/d em Alagoas, 4.060 boe/d na Bahia, 16 boe/d no Espírito Santo, 7.741 boe/d no Rio Grande do Norte e 213 boe/d em Sergipe.
ANP. 31 de Março de 2020. Assinados contratos da 6ª Rodada de Partilha e do Excedente da Cessão Onerosa
Foram assinados ontem (30/3) os contratos de partilha de produção de Búzios e Itapu, da Rodada de Licitações do Excedente da Cessão Onerosa, e de Aram, da 6ª Rodada de Partilha de Produção.
As licitantes vencedoras celebraram contratos de partilha de produção com o Ministério de Minas e Energia, a ANP e a Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) para exploração e produção de petróleo e gás natural.
O bloco de Búzios foi arrematado na Rodada de Licitações do Excedente da Cessão Onerosa, realizada em 6/11/2019, pelo consórcio formado pelas empresas Petrobras, CNODC e CNOOC. O contrato terá vigência de 35 anos e representou uma arrecadação de R$ 68.194.000.000,00 (sessenta e oito bilhões e cento e noventa e quatro milhões de reais) para a União, além de um percentual de excedente em óleo de 23,24%.
Já o bloco de Itapu, também arrematado na Rodada de Licitações do Excedente da Cessão Onerosa, foi contratado exclusivamente com a Petrobras, que ofereceu R$ 1.766.000.000,00 (um bilhão e setecentos e sessenta e seis milhões de reais) e um percentual de excedente em óleo de 18,15% pelo contrato.
Já o bloco de Aram, foi arrematado na 6ª Rodada de Partilha de Produção, realizada em 7/11/2019, pelo consórcio formado pelas empresas Petrobras e CNODC Brasil, que ofereceu um bônus de assinatura de R$ 5.050.000.000,00 (cinco bilhões e cinquenta milhões de reais) e um percentual de excedente em óleo para a União de 29,96%.
Os valores relativos ao bônus de assinatura foram pagos pelas empresas em dezembro de 2019 e a assinatura dos contratos permite que sejam realizados os investimentos pactuados.
DOCUMENTO: http://www.anp.gov.br/noticias/5713-assinados-contratos-da-6-rodada-de-partilha-e-do-excedente-da-cessao-onerosa
ANP. 01 de Abril de 2020. 17ª Rodada é suspensa
A diretoria da ANP aprovou hoje a suspensão temporária da 17ª Rodada de Licitações de áreas para exploração e produção de petróleo e gás natural, no regime de concessão, que estava prevista para este ano.
A Agência atendeu à determinação do Ministério de Minas e Energia que, em ofício, solicitou a suspensão temporária das ações relativas à 17ª Rodada, especificamente as relacionadas com a publicação do pré-edital e da minuta de contrato, em face ao atual cenário econômico e social decorrente da pandemia de Covid-19.
O Conselho Nacional de Política Energética (CNPE) definirá um novo cronograma para a licitação, que será submetido à avaliação por seus integrantes.
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LGCJ.:
