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February
Chinese Stocks are Having Their Worst Day in Years as the Coronavirus Outbreak Escalates
The plunge puts Shanghai on pace for its worst day since August 2015's "Black Monday," when global markets were rattled by China slowdown fears. Shenzhen, meanwhile, hasn't recorded a single-day percentage drop this bad since 2007.
China's currency also fell. The onshore yuan sank 1.5%, dropping below seven yuan to one US dollar in its first day back from the holiday break. The yuan also weakened below the seven mark offshore, where it moves more freely and has been trading since last week.
While global markets have had several days to weigh the rapid spread of the coronavirus, this is the first chance that mainland China has had to react in more than a week. Before the holiday, the number of cases numbered roughly 800 — now, there are more than 17,000.
Markets were originally scheduled to reopen last Friday, but the Chinese government extended the holiday as it worked to control the outbreak.
Authorities knew Monday's shock was likely inevitable. The People's Bank of China said Sunday that it would inject $1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the Chinese markets using the purchase of short-term bonds to shore up banks' ability to lend money. The measure will help maintain "reasonably ample liquidity" in the banking system and keep currency markets stable, the bank said.
The net amount of liquidity being injected into the markets is much lower. According to Reuters calculations using central bank data, more than $1 trillion yuan worth of other short-term bond agreements will mature Monday. That brings the net amount of cash flooding into the markets down to 150 billion yuan ($22 billion).
The central bank will also keep in contact with financial institutions and markets to determine what other policy responses may be necessary, according to Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the central bank.
Protecting China's financial markets and economy is a top priority for the government, which is also bracing for a potentially severe hit to first quarter economic growth. Some economists have said that China's growth rate could drop two percentage points this quarter — a decline that could mean $62 billion in lost growth.
Along with Monday's liquidity kick, top financial and economic regulators have announced dozens of other measures to stabilize China.
For example, the National Development and Reform Commission — the country's top economic planning agency — said Monday the government would "go to all lengths" to make sure that people have what they need to live, including food and other necessities. It also encouraged companies "that are key to control and prevent the virus" or are "of vital importance to the national economy" to resume production as soon as they can.
And the People's Bank of China said Saturday that it would provide money at low interest rates to commercial banks so that those banks could offer cheap loans to companies that make clinical masks, coronavirus testing kits and other types of medical supplies. The central government will also subsidize those special loans.
The country's stock exchange regulators have also said they would allow companies to delay 2019 annual reports and 2020 quarterly earnings reports if they are affected by the disruption.
Markets elsewhere in Asia opened lower Monday, too — though their losses were not nearly as dramatic as in China.
In Japan, where 20 cases of the virus have been confirmed, the Nikkei 225 (N225) fell 1%. In South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, the benchmark Kospi (KOSPI) fell 0.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI), meanwhile, is about flat, moving between small gains and losses. The index lost more than 6% last week after investors returned from the Lunar New Year holiday. Unlike in mainland China, Hong Kong markets reopened last Wednesday.
In the United States, stock futures were actually higher overnight. Dow (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) futures were all at least 0.6% higher during Asian trading hours.
US markets haven't been immune from fears over the coronavirus, though. Last Friday, the Dow fell 600 points, capping a turbulent week for stocks. (CNN)
February
Garuda Indonesia suspended its to-and-fro flights for Mainland China since early Wednesday at 00:00 a.m. local time to support the Indonesian government's endeavors to halt the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
The decision was also made by the Indonesian national flag carrier following the World Health Organization's (WHO's) recent declaration on Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The suspension was part of Garuda Indonesia's serious attention to precautionary measures being taken to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, the airline's president director, Irfan Setiaputra, noted in a press statement that ANTARA received here on Sunday.
Garuda Indonesia prioritizes the safety of aviation as well as passengers and crew members, he affirmed, adding that the suspension was made effective for the flight routes to and from the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an.
Currently, the airline serves 30 scheduled flights to and from Mainland China in a week, while its flights to and from Hong Kong remain served under the strict surveillance of related authorities, Setiaputra stated.
Garuda Indonesia will continue to monitor the current situation and provide latest information on its operational flights to its potential passengers. It will also apply a flexible policy on the reschedule and reroute mechanism in connection with the flights to and from China.
Garuda has suggested its potential passengers to regularly check its flight schedules, especially those on cities vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus, on its official website and social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, he stated.
On Sunday, President Joko Widodo held a limited meeting at the Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta with several cabinet ministers as well as National Police and National Military chiefs following the evacuation of 238 Indonesians and five members of an advance team from China's Hubei Province.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi remarked during a press conference following the meeting that the Indonesian government will have placed a temporary ban on flights to and from Mainland China since 00.00 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
All visitors, coming from Mainland China and having lived there for 14 days, were also temporarily banned from entering or making a transit in Indonesia, she noted.
In the interim, the government has also put a stop to the visa-free policy and issuance of visa on arrival for Chinese nationals residing in mainland China. Indonesian nationals are urged to not travel to Mainland China.
The limited meeting was held after the government airlifted 243 Indonesian nationals, including five members of an advance team, from Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak.
The new coronavirus has killed at least 304 people in China, and a 44-year-old Wuhan resident, who received medical treatment in the Philippines, according to the New York Times.
Chinese authorities declared the first case of coronavirus after a person, with pneumonia, was hospitalized in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, according to an official statement of the WHO.
Over the past weeks, people, symptomatic with pneumonia and reported travel history to Wuhan, had been identified at international airports.
Apart from infecting China, several other countries, including Thailand, Australia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, and Canada, have announced their confirmed coronavirus cases.
However, none of the confirmed cases were found in Indonesia. Apart from this reality, since the issuance of an official statement by the WHO on the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Indonesian government has remained on alert.
As part of its precautionary measures, thermal scanners have been installed at various airports around the archipelago for screening international passengers.
The thermal scanners are aimed at detecting any foreign tourists symptomatic with this novel coronavirus.
Several hospitals in Indonesia's big cities have also made necessary preparations to handle those with suspected coronavirus symptoms. (ANTARA)
February
Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto confirmed that the total number of Indonesians airlifted from Wuhan, China's epicenter of deadly novel coronavirus, reached 238 while seven others remained in the Chinese city.
"According to the Health Ministry's data, 238 evacuees have arrived," Putranto told journalists in Natuna District, Riau Islands Province, on Sunday.
Four of the seven Indonesians refused to get evacuated because they felt more comfortable though they had been offered to join the emergency evacuation while three others failed in the Chinese authorities' health examinations prior to the departure, he said.
Regarding the Indonesian Government's decision to send the evacuees to Natuna Islands for quarantine, Ansar Ahmad, a member of parliament, suggested that the government take their 14-day incubation period on a naval ship.
"It is better if the evacuees get quarantined on an Indonesian naval ship which is equipped with sufficient logistics and health services," he said commenting on the rejection of several residents of Natuna District on the government's decision.
Ahmad, a member of the Golkar Party Faction at the House of Representatives, said the government should optimally socialize its policy on selecting Natuna Islands in advance because the local people felt fear of the impact of the deadly coronavirus.
He said he could understand the people's fear of being infected by the virus though the Health Ministry had convinced that all Indonesians airlifted from the Chinese city of Wuhan were in good health.
"The coronavirus information spread on social media and mainstream media has made many people feel anxious," he said.
At the same time, a massive socialization for the Natuna District Government as well as local community leaders and people was not available before the quarantine policy was taken, he added.
The new coronavirus has killed at least 304 people in China, and a 44-year-old resident of Wuhan who received a medical treatment in the Philippines, according to the New York Times.
Chinese authorities declared the first case of coronavirus after a person with pneumonia was hospitalized in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, according to an official statement of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Over the past weeks, people, with symptoms of pneumonia and reported travel history to Wuhan, had been identified at international airports.
Besides infecting China, several other countries, such as Thailand, Australia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, and Canada, have announced their confirmed coronavirus cases.
However, none of the confirmed cases were found in Indonesia. Apart from this reality, since the issuance of an official statement by the WHO on the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Indonesian government has remained on alert.
As part of its precautionary measures, thermal scanners have been installed at various airports around the archipelago for screening international passengers.
The thermal scanners are aimed at detecting any foreign tourists symptomatic with this novel coronavirus.
Several hospitals in Indonesia's big cities have also made necessary preparations to handle those with suspected coronavirus symptoms. (ANTARA)
February
Britain Remains Fully Committed to Carrying out a Green Deal with the European Union
Jakarta (VOI News) - Britain, on Friday 31 January 2020, fulfilled its promise to its people who had voted three years ago to leave the European Union. But that did not break Britain's commitment to continue implementing the Green Deal. This was revealed by the British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Owen Jenkins at a press conference, Friday 31 January 2020 at the British Embassy in Jakarta.
“On the green deal, the United Kingdom has always been a leader on the transaction within the European Union and that won't change after we leave. We committed on the national basis to reach net-zero emission by 2050, we make more progress on cutting out emission than almost any other developed nations in the world and we will continue to do that. In doing so we will continue to use the element from the EU green deal so we will continue to take advantage of world-beating social development, innovation and tech progress that has been done by the UK and education establishment that we got. So I don't have any doubt on the UK will remain fully committed to that area,” said Ambassador Jenkins.
Climate change-based policies have grown the UK economy by more than 70% and reduced carbon emissions by more than 40% since 1990. (VOI/NK/trans by PUTRI)