International

Asian and European equity markets are rising and the major central banks are planning more policy easing

Declaring a pandemic has complex consequences, as does failure to do so

Global current account imbalances have shrunk since 2008 but fears about them will rise with financial market volatility

The price of oil on world markets has plunged after OPEC+ failed to agree to cut supply and Riyadh threatened a ramp-up

Italy has imposed a quarantine in northern regions as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads further

Government attempts to crack down on illegal gold mining and trading may slow, but not stop, the growth of the sector

Many technology companies are limiting travel and encouraging remote work in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak

Sequencing the novel coronavirus genome shows that countries face introduction of the disease from multiple sources