While the United States continues to reel from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, other countries have been suffering even more severely.
Some countries were impacted by Coronavirus much earlier than the United States, such as Italy. Others have had their economy destroyed by it, such as Spain. What are other countries doing for their stimulus, and how are they reacting to Coronavirus as a whole?
Let’s take a look.
Spanish Government Has Aims for UBI
The Spanish government is trying to roll out Universal Basic Income for its population. This may only exist during the Coronavirus pandemic, or it may become permanent. Before COVID-19, Spain already had spectacularly high unemployment levels. These unemployment levels approached 48% for younger employees. UBI would, in theory, help the economy stabilize, but the real impact remains to be seen. The Spanish government has had to be particularly aggressive about its lockdowns, leaving much of the country idled.
Australia to Stabilize through Record-Breaking Stimulus
Australia’s economic stimulus is going to include $213 billion from the commonwealth, $11 billion from the states, and $105 billion in lending. That’s a record-breaking stimulus that goes beyond the stimulus seen during the great financial crisis of the late 2000s. How these dollars are going to be distributed has not been set, but the Australian government has also been remarkably stable for the last decade—one of the best in the world.
UK’s Loan Guarantee Worth $300 Billion
The UK has met with widespread criticism for its actions in the face of COVID-19, taking a long time to react, and theorizing that it might be best for the population as a whole to get the disease as soon as possible. Regardless, they have started a stimulus that would offer $300 billion in loans to affected businesses. The UK has already been struggling following Brexit, and has not been able to acquire significant EU aid during the crisis because of the exit.
Germany Offers $600 Billion Stimulus
According to reports by citizens, Germany has already started sending stimulus payments out to citizens in the form of ACH payments. Germany is going to be offering a $600 billion stimulus total, and some report having $10,000 placed into their bank account by the government. Germany has had an exceptional amount of people infected, but very low fatality rates so far. It’s possible that their aggressive testing has led to the appearance of more people being affected, and more responsive medical care overall.
With economies shutdown around the world, stimulus has become necessary to ensure that the economies don’t crash entirely, and that the world isn’t plunged into a lengthy recovery period. But what is being seen is that many countries are struggling to implement their stimulus packages.
It isn’t easy to deliver large amounts of currency quickly to hundreds of millions of people. It isn’t an issue of finding the money, it’s an issue of practicality and infrastructure. In the United States, some believe it could take five to six months to deliver stimulus checks to everyone—though the first ACH payments are expected to come as early as April 15th.
