Operational readiness would play a key factor in helping many companies across all industries cope with the challenges wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the chairman of the Philippine Business Council – Qatar (PBCQ) has said.

Turkey’s central bank on Tuesday added to its emergency programme to help contain the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak with new measures to ease lenders’ access to credit and support liquidity in the government bond market.

The Gulf funds’ bearish sentiments and the weakened net buying interests of local retail investors acted as a drag on the Qatar Stock Exchange, which yesterday settled a tad above 8,200 levels.

Stocks in Asia and Europe enjoyed gains yesterday following another rally on Wall Street, while oil bounced and traders welcomed a surprise jump in Chinese factory activity — although analysts cautioned the road ahead remained rocky for the global economy.

The Indonesian rupiah tumbled to within a whisker of its 1998 record low recently before a relief rally. Options markets indicate the respite will be brief.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus epidemic yesterday and said an additional $24.9bn would be spent to cushion its impact on Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

Factory activity in China unexpectedly expanded in March after contracting sharply to a record low, but the rapid global spread of the coronavirus is expected to keep businesses and the overall economy under heavy pressure as foreign demand slumps.

Singapore’s central bank said local lenders will offer additional relief for consumers and companies battered by the sharp economic slowdown, including a freeze on mortgage and business loan payments and cuts to credit card rates.

A plan by the Group of 20 major economies to fight the effects of the coronavirus pandemic will address the risk of debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries and deliver financial aid to emerging markets, a joint statement said yesterday.

Last week G20 nations pledged a “united front” in the fight against the rapidly spreading coronavirus, saying they were injecting $5tn into the global economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Qatar “have generally followed an upward trend” in the past several years, thanks to the “country's political stability, stable currency pegged to the dollar ...

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