Through a Glass Darkly

The fiscal policies taken by governments to save lives and protect economies amount to some $8 trillion, according to the IMF. As deficits and public debt ratios grow by the day, the hope is that answers are found which help to safeguard people’s health and enable them to get back to work and kickstart the global economy. The question is, when?

Experts offer Emma Carroll their 12-month predictions for both.

Mark Spelman, Executive Committee Member, World Economic Forum: "We can’t look at this situation without thinking carefully about how the contagion may play through both the developed world and the emerging markets."

Guy Foster, Head of Research, Brewin Dolphin:"Health and containment measures are outside the control of economic policymakers, but the Treasury and central banks need to try and reduce any second-round recessionary effects."

Kim Horsburgh, Senior Relationship Manager, Criticaleye:"The high number of profit warnings shows that companies across multiple sectors are unsurprisingly struggling to meet their pre-COVID market expectations."

Tom Attenborough, Head of International Business Development – Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange: "Investors have been clear that they are happy to support these non-pre-emptive raises where companies have a clearly defined set of COVID-19 mitigation policies."