(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help take you through to the weekend.

  • World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart said the coronavirus pandemic is turning into a major economic crisis and warned of the possibility of a financial crisis emerging
  • European Central Bank officials see strong reasons to hold their nerve instead of rushing into expanding emergency stimulus despite a sharp slowdown in the economy and rise in virus cases
  • Boris Johnson’s coronavirus strategy descended into disarray, as local leaders rejected his regional approach and U.K. government scientists pushed for an emergency national lockdown to slow the rate of infections; Johnson is separately set to decide on Friday whether to abandon trade talks with the European Union
  • Investors savoring a rally in Europe’s peripheral bond markets this year just got a taste of how vulnerable these heavily-indebted economies are
  • The Riksbank is running out of options in its battle to raise inflation, a situation that may result in lower expectations of price increases, according to Danske Bank
  • China is the only large nation expected to grow this year, with booming export demand driving an industrial rebound and control of the Covid-19 outbreak allowing it to reopen the domestic economy
  • Bank of Japan pandemic loan measures worth almost $1 trillion have revived concerns about zombie companies, decades after lenders got a bad reputation for bailing out unprofitable firms
  • The world’s major economies poured money into the fight against the coronavirus slump, and now they’re edging toward what may be a more complex policy choice: when and how to turn off the spigots
  • Members of the Paris Club, an informal group of rich nations, are close to suspending Cuba’s debt obligations for this year, in a move that defies U.S. attempts to block any financial relief to the communist island
  • Australian central bank chief Philip Lowe’s move to emphasize current inflation rates rather than projections suggests the economy will be allowed to run hotter with interest rates staying lower for longer
  • Canada’s main opposition party is cautioning the central bank against financing Justin Trudeau’s spending plans beyond immediate pandemic emergency measures, thrusting the Bank of Canada into a political firestorm

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