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"This budget gets it done."
I've only written it once, but UK finance minister Rishi Sunak repeated the phrase several times in the House of Commons, as he set out his fiscal plan for the next six months.
As well as the big news that as much as $40 billion could be spent by the UK government to stabilize the economy and shore up small companies – as well as making sick pay and benefits more easily accessible for workers who catch COVID-19 – Sunak announced $700 billion for the transport network, and froze alcohol levies. We spoke to Digby Jones (Baron Jones of Birmingham), the businessman and politician who sits in the House of Lords, to understand how the government made the decisions it did – and you can read that exchange by scrolling down.
The business news is still dominated by the COVID-19 outbeak, with Uber confirming it will suspend accounts of drivers and riders the world over if they test positive for the virus.
Our correspondent Nawied Jabarkhylreports on one of the firms importing goods to the UK direct from China, as we look at how businesses react to the global issues caused by the novel coronavirus. You can watch that below.
And Hungary has become the latest European country to warn its economy could take a serious hit and even stop any growth in its tracks. But Etihad Airlines is more upbeat, with the carrier's commercial chief predicting flight demand will be back to normal by June.
And, finally, if you want to keep up to date with the latest COVID-19 news across Europe – not just to do with business – do sign up to our dedicated daily COVID-19 bulletin here: http://eepurl.com/gVGUJj
Happy reading,
Patrick Atack
Digital Business Correspondent
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**Tesla **is looking to make more car parts at its Shanghai factory as part of ongoing efforts to localize its supply chain. The U.S. electric car maker aims to almost double the annual production capacity of locally made cooling pipes to 260,000 sets from 150,000 as well as expanding the range of products it produces in Shanghai.
China will halve its subsidy budget for new solar power plants this year and stop subsidies completely for new offshore wind farms, according to the National Energy Administration. While $215 million will still be spent on solar power projects.
Alibaba 's retail and food delivery arms are seeing business return to pre-COVID-19 levels, according to a company spokesperson. Cainiao, Ele.me and Freshippo are said to be at "full capacity" as China appears to show shoots of recovery after the virus outbreak.
UK finance minister Rishi Sunak today announced a budget with special COVID-19 considerations . He said the plan was "temporary, timely and targeted," but could add up to nearly $40 billion.
German ports are "bracing for impact" as the nation prepares for an increase in novel coronavirus diagnoses. Factory closures in Asia are only starting to affect European ports this week, because the average shipping time from China to Hamburg, for example, is six weeks.
The global business travel industry is likely to lose as much as $820 billion, according to sector body the Global Business Travel Association. Asia is most affected, with China seeing a 95 percent drop in work-related travel, but European firms could lose as much as $190 billion.
Ride-hailing app Uber has told its drivers and customers it may suspend accounts if individuals test positive for COVID-19. The company said its approach is regional, with market experts advising the firm – but 240 accounts in Mexico have already been suspended.
Hungary's finance minister , Mihaly Varga, said the central European nation's economy could stagnate or even contract due to COVID-19. He said this was down from an expected four percent growth, without the viral outbreak.
The chief commercial officer of Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways said he expects demand for flights to and from China to recover by the middle of 2020. The statement came as Etihad announced it would move flights from the Beijing Capital International Airport to the new Daxing International Airport from 1 June.
Central banks have cut rates, with the Bank of England the latest to announce a base rate adjustment – but it has done little to calm Foreign exchange traders, with the yen and other so-called "havens" outperforming the dollar.
G4S , one of the world's largest private security firms, announced a full-year loss of $117 million, after a $375 million penalty relating to a 2004 merger. The shares of the firm crashed to a 16-year low, despite relatively little impact from COVID-19.
Goods on the move: How the UK-China rail link has been hit by COVID-19. CGTN Europe's Nawied Jabarkhyl reports from the base of one of the logistics firms in the UK, which operates the link.
02:26
Digby Jones, former director-general of the CBI and a former minister of trade, joined CGTN Europe in London to discuss the new finance minister's budget.
First of all, some say the 0.25% borrowing rate, announced by Mark Carney of the Bank of England today, dropped by half a percentage a little early. What do you think?
I'm reminded of the day after the referendum result three-and-a-half years ago, he [David Cameron] got on the television the next day and said, 'We are in command of this. We will sort this out.' And it was the sign to the markets that Britain's economy was going to be under very tight control. I was reminded of that today. I thought it was very similar. This idea of, you know, Bill Shankly, the old Liverpool [football club] manager used to say, 'get your retaliation in first,' and he doesn't want to be reactive. He wants to be proactive.
I thought it was exactly right. He hasn't got many shots in his locker. I mean, where else to go from here? You know, there are no big cuts in interest rates to come. But I thought it was good.
In the budget, the UK's new finance minister seemed to say 'I've done my math, I've done the calculations ... I can do this.' What do you make of this chancellor four weeks into the job?
Yeah, I thought his oratory was excellent. No 'you knows', no hesitations and murmurs. Bang, bang, bang the whole way. Didn't get caught up in his notes. I have to say, I watched it. I thought, you know, that's masterful.
I love the way he turned around and said to Sajid Javid, the former minister who went with a bit of a row with Boris Johnson. And he was sitting in the backbenches. And he actually said, you cared a lot for further education. I'm going to fulfill your wish and do it. I thought that was the mark, actually, of quite a statesman.
He drew attention to a lot of different members of the House in his speech. What about the figures, then, Lord Jones? What do you make of these figures that were thrown out in front of the country today?
Yeah, I thought your summary was an excellent report, actually. I mean, this concept of we've for 10 years really kept it tight. We've created headroom. We've got an economy that is booming in terms of jobs, not so much growth, but in terms of jobs. Germany is nearly in recession. France too, but Britain is not. Britain has got low growth, but it's got growth and it has virtually no unemployment.
And so he's saying, we've got this headroom and I'm going to use it. I'm going to make sure that the infrastructure, especially in your summary, perhaps could have expanded on this concept of this government owing the North and the Midlands regions a big, big thank you for making sure that they were re-elected with a landslide majority. And so a lot of this infrastructure, if you noticed, was not about London. It was about the North.
So, they're saying we are fulfilling our promises from an election. But also, we've got this coronavirus thing. We've got a plan for that. Might people come away reassured?
Well, I think they would. I mean, it's interesting, you know, immediately after the referendum, we were promised death of the firstborn on Friday, plague of locusts and all the rest of it
– never happened. But we've got to deal with it. And the government is fit and ready for that, because they had to deal with all the 'what if there's a no-deal Brexit?'
I actually think if I was a small businessman in the country, if I was a lower-paid worker in the country, I would think, 'this government's done something for me today.'
And if you're neither of those things but you want actually to create wealth, you want to go to work, you're in the public sector, you want to go to your job. I think the distinctive message was, 'we're in charge of this. We know what we're doing and we're going to come out the other side.' And the Brits are quite good in a crisis, you know?
**CGTN Europe has made four graphics showing what you need to know about the spread of COVID-19. Take a **
look at the others here.
