The economic impact of the world wide corona crisis is slowly revealing it’s devastating nature. We are not seeking to speculate on other countries’ misfortunes, but we are trying to predict what consequences the economic recession will have on the middle long term. We are exploring the current status of specific countries. For more detailed information, we advise you to do further research.
Our number one suspect on the list is Argentina. The country is already virtually bankrupt and missed its bond payments on 22 of may. As one might expect, the corona crisis isn’t helping. Or is it? The special circumstances might affect some unforeseen sympathie from investors. Backed by several prominent figures, Argentina’s prime minister Fernandez is appealing to the willingness of the world to consider the extraordinary situation. He finds a friend in several experts on debt, including lawyer Ms. Warren from Massachusetts:
“With Covid-19 worsening an already weak economy, this is no time for Wall Street creditors to exploit any country struggling to deal with debt burdens,” Ms. Warren wrote on Twitter recently. “A fair deal will help save more lives.”
South Africa is a less likely candidate, though there are some interesting parallels with Argentina. They both have a very strict travel restriction; the most severe in the world. And both countries have imposed a heavy lockdown without too much confirmed Covid-19 cases. In contrast to Argentina there are no upsides to the crisis though. South Africa sees itself forced loosening the lockdown in risk of many more infections due to a starving population. The unemployment rate was already at 30% before Corona and it’s numbers are surging. Only time will tell how the situation will unfold.
Last on our list is an unusual suspect: the United States. The country that has been hit the most severe by the virus and is seeing an unprecedented economical backlash. With unemployment going through the roof and debt already a point of attention for years, it is not impossible for the US to go default. Although it is very unlikely. And let’s hope the world will be spared of such an economic crisis.
And let’s conclude that the named countries and all other countries currently struggling are being spared of disaster due to this crisis. But one thing is for sure; there are difficult years to come for many among us.
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