(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Wednesday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• The delta variant of coronavirus threatens to moderate the pace of recovery, not fundamentally change the trajectory, argues Andrew Husby. Meantime, heightened fears over the spread of the variant have sent traders rushing to pare back their bets on Fed rate hikes
• Countries need to consider undertaking “difficult reforms” across product, labor, and financial markets to fill the estimated $22 trillion global output gap caused by Covid-19, a top IMF official said
• Banks in China kept the benchmark loan rate unchanged, indicating that the central bank is continuing to keep policy stable
• Around 100,000 people have been relocated from the capital city of one of China’s most populous provinces after record daily rainfall
• Beijing said it would “strictly regulate” the after-school tutoring sector as part of stepped-up efforts to cut the cost of having children and help raise China’s birth rate
• The head of one of the largest U.S. gateways for trade said robust demand for imported goods will likely be sustained into 2022, as companies scramble to rebuild stockpiles during an uneven rebound
• The IMF and and World Bank said they plan some in-person gatherings at their fall meetings in Washington in October, the first time the events will take place face to face since the pandemic
• Strategists are rethinking their bullish wagers on the New Zealand dollar as the global spread of the delta coronavirus strain overshadows the central bank’s plans to reduce stimulus
• U.K. leader Boris Johnson’s pandemic strategy descended into disarray after his own ministers said the public could ignore orders to isolate at home
• Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers pulled off Blue Origin’s first crewed flight to space, a key milestone in the company’s push to make space tourism viable

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