In response to the pandemic, the Group of 20 economies have provided revenue and spending measures equal to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund, which took into account all measures as of April 8. “This amount is higher than the stimulus during the global financial crisis that began in 2008,” the fund said Wednesday in its semi-annual Fiscal Monitor report. It also highlighted “massive packages of public-sector liquidity support, including loans and guarantees” for companies, which in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. were above 10 per cent of GDP.