Tag: COVID19
COVID-19 | The Case of Italy
Italy was the first European country to experience the Covid-19 pandemic on its territory, and as of today, March 30, it is the most heavily affected. Because of this, there is already ample coverage of the Italian case from multiple sources. Nevertheless, and although the country is not part of the FREE network region, we report on the covid-19 crisis in Italy, for two reasons.
Since SITE has a substantial share of Italian nationals in its staffing, following and updating the Italian statistics and measures to parallel the reporting from our core countries is relatively easy.
We intend for our report on Italy to provide a useful benchmark for the policy measures implemented by other countries, as Italy represents the first country hit in Europe and therefore the most surprised and least prepared case.
Basic Facts
Italy is a country of around 60 million people, with capital Rome, around 3 million. Around 10 million live in Lombardy, the region most heavily hit by the pandemic, and 1,3 million in Milan, its largest city. Italy is a founding member of the European Community and part of the Eurozone.
The main responsibility for health care delivery in Italy is at the level of the 20 regions and 2 autonomous provinces, although the central government, through the Health Ministry, oversees and coordinates the national strategy. The whole of the health care system, Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), which includes several national level institutes and subsidiary bodies on scientific advice plus the regional providers Aziende Sanitarie Locali (ASL) and Aziende Ospedaliere (AO), is among the best in the world for accessibility and cost efficiency, according to WHO and based on the Bloomberg Health-Care Efficiency Index. The responsibility for education is at the national level, divided between the Education Ministry and the Ministry for University and Research. Professional education is instead left to the regions. Social services to the elderly, the disabled, and needy families are dealt with by local authorities, sometimes with the assistance of volunteer associations and non-profit social service cooperatives.
Health Indicators
On January 30, the first two cases of coronavirus were reported in Italy: two Chinese tourists from Wuhan were hospitalized in Rome. They had landed 10 days before in Milan (January 23th).
On February 21, the first local infection was reported at the hospital of Codogno, in Lombardy (a 38 years old man). All the people who were in contact with him (including in the hospital) were contacted, tested and asked to isolate themselves (around 100 persons). Nevertheless, few days later hundreds of cases were reported in the area around Lodi in Lombardy, and in Veneto. The indicators on Covid-19 numbers in the table are from the newspaper Il Sole 24 ore. The numbers of hospital beds are from the NCBI as reported by the Financial Times. The OECD provides statistics on nurses and doctors. Capacity is being expanded in real time during these weeks, but this is not reported in a systematic way, as far as we could see.
Financial and Economic Indicators
As part of the EU and Eurozone, Italy does not have a sovereign monetary policy, but depends on the European Central Bank.
The stock market data is from the Italian Stock Exchange ; we focus on the performance of the main index, called FTSE MIB.
Since February 23, all layoffs of workers were put on hold for two months. There is no current reporting on this, and the latest available data is from before the pandemic and therefore can be seen as unrelated.
Short Summary of Health Crisis Measures
From January 23 (when a flight from Wuhan with 202 passengers was supposed to land in Rome) controls on passengers from Wuhan were started. These included temperature controls with scanners at major airports and mandatory submission of schedules with destinations and travel plans for all the passengers coming from Wuhan. In Rome and Milan airports, posters were put up explaining the typical symptoms of the new coronavirus, encouraging to avoid non-important travels to Wuhan and to get a flu vaccine at least two-week prior departure. The posters also gave typical hygiene recommendations such as hand washing, avoiding contact with sick people or crowded places, as well as contact with animals and raw meat, and recommendation to avoid travel if sick.
Flights to and from China were suspended as soon as the infection was detected in the two tourists, on January 30. As a precautionary measure, the same routines implemented for the SARS epidemic in 2003 were started: the Council of Ministers declared a state of emergency with a duration of 6 months starting January 31, and allocated EUR 5 million to this.
On February 22, through a decree from the central government, 10 Italian towns suspected to be outbreaks of coronavirus were put on lockdown.
On February 29, with over 1000 infected, the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna closed schools and universities. This was extended to the national territory on March 4, when also public attendance of football matches, cinemas and theatres was suspended for 1 month. The one-meter distance rule, with no hugs and no handshakes, was also introduced.
On March 7 and March 9, the lockdown was subsequently expanded to cover the national territory. On March 21, all nonessential production was stopped to halt the spread of coronavirus. As of March 30, the lockdown was prolonged two more weeks.
Government Economic Policies
Labor Market
- All layoffs started after February 23 are put on hold.
- Payments of social contributions are put on hold.
- Sick-pay restrictions are reduced (12 extra days per month allowed).
- Government funding for shortened or suspended working time.
- 500€ lump sum benefit for all free-lancers that are not part of safety nets.
- Most public and private employers must allow distance work. (Exception are allowed, and the criteria to be used have been hotly debated between workers and industry representatives.)
- Parental leave with 50% compensation for all private employees with children younger than 12 for up to 15 days since March 5. Alternatively, up to 600€ bonus for private childcare.
Tax Breaks
- Tax payments due between March and May are put on hold.
- Tax credits proportional to costs (chiefly rents and sanitation) for commercial activities.
Emergency Loans, Guarantees and Support
- Extra funding for repurposing of production towards medical needs.
- Loan guarantees, liquidity support and suspension of repayments for SMEs.
- Financial support to sports and Alitalia.
- Extra funding (400 millions) to municipalities to provide basic support (food stamps) to households with special needs (these are mostly households whose main source of income are jobs in the informal sector, which as such do not qualify for any safety net.)
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in policy briefs and other publications are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect those of the FREE Network and its research institutes.
COVID-19 | The Case of Poland
Poland is a country of around 38 million people. The area is 312 thousand sqkm which gives a population density of 124.7persons/sqkm. The capital is Warsaw with 1.8 million inhabitants, other major cities are Kraków (0.8mn), Łódź (0.7mn), Wrocław (0,6) and Poznań (0,5). Poland has been a member of the EU since 2004, but along with some other new members has not adopted the EURO currency.
Different responses to the crisis across countries depend partly on the organization of political authority, as reflected in the level of regional decentralization of decision making in key areas of authority, and the strength and independence of public agencies. In the case of Poland, the government has four levels, the central government, 16 regions (voivodeships), 314 counties (powiaty) and 2477 municipalities (gminy). From the point of view of involvement in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, different layers of government are responsible for different public services, with counties being the most involved in the provision of healthcare and secondary education, while municipalities being in charge of social support, local transport, primary schools and other types of care.
In Poland the highest decisive body with regard to the pandemic is the Ministry of Health. The Principal Sanitary Authority (Główny Inspektor Sanitarny) deals specifically with the country’s epidemiological situation and infectious diseases, and is subordinate to the Ministry of Health.
Health Indicators
While Poland lags far behind many other developed countries in terms of the availability of medical staff (2.4 doctors and 5.1 nurses per 1000 inhabitants in 2017), the Polish health care system scores much better with regard to resources like hospital beds (6.6 beds per 1000 inhabitants) [1].
Generally, from the perspective of efficient treatment provided to large numbers of patients infected with Covid-19, the most important country statistics concern the health infrastructure related to infectious diseases. In 2018 wards devoted to infectious diseases in general hospitals had a capacity of only 2997 beds, which accounted for 1,65% of all available hospital beds [2]. As far as medical professionals are concerned, in 2020 Poland had 1120 actively working medical doctors with a specialization in infectious diseases [3]. They constituted as few as 0,75% of all specialists, which gives an indication of how small this field is in Poland. Assuming an uncontrollable dissemination of the disease, Polish health care resources would quickly face a huge overburden.
Figure 1: Nurses. Total, per 1000 inhabitants, 2018 or latest available.
Source: OECD Health Statistics.
Figure 2: Doctors. Total, per 1000 inhabitants, 2018 or latest available.
Source: OECD Health Statistics.
Figure 3: Hospital beds. Total, per 1000 inhabitants, 2018 or latest available.
Source: OECD Health Statistics.
According to official announcements, the territory of Poland was free from the Covid-19 disease until as late as March 3, when the first case was confirmed. Patient 0 came by bus from abroad after participating in the Carnival celebrations in Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany. Several other initial patients returned to Poland from Italy. Since then the disease spread throughout the whole country, (according to official statistics) having infected at least 3266 people as of one month later [4].
Financial Indicators
The Warsaw Stock Exchange belongs to the main stock markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Along with 25 other countries, it is included in the FTSE Russel list of economically developed markets. As of 2019 the Warsaw Stock Exchange had 460 listed companies, 50 of them foreign [5]. Since the emergence of the Covid-19 disease in Poland in early March, the main index of companies at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, called WIG, faced value loss exceeding 17% (Figure 2).
Poland keeps its own currency, the Polish Zloty (PLN), which is a free floating currency. According to the exchange rate data from the National Bank of Poland (NBP), which provides the average daily exchange rate of the Zloty with world’s most important currencies, during last month Poland’s currency dramatically lost value in comparison to both the Euro and the US dollar [6].
Figure 4: Volatility of one of the main indices at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WIG).
Source: Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Figure 5: The Polish currency in March 2020.
Source: Central Bank of Poland (NBP).
In Poland, the number of newly registered unemployed is given in monthly intervals and reflects the number of people who have registered at the County Employment Agency (Powiatowy Urząd Pracy) for the first time in a particular month. However, publicly available data comes with a lag of three months, so unless statistics are provided earlier the impact of isolation policies introduced due to the pandemic will not be known publicly for some time.
Government Health Policies
The Minister of Health announced a state of epidemic emergency in the territory of Poland on March 14 [7], raising it further to a state of epidemic 6 days later [8]. Measures counteracting the epidemic were introduced centrally in Poland by the Minister of Health, and were gradually extended:
- Restriction on the size of public gatherings: since 14.03.2020 limited to 50 [7]; since 25.03.2020 – 2 people (except for families and funerals – up to 5 people) [9],
- Ban on all non-essential mobility since 25.03.2020 [9]; since 01.04.2020 limitations on access to public spaces like parks, playgrounds and recreational areas; distance of 2 meters between people in public places; further restrictions for minors [10],
- Bars and restaurants closed and allowed only to provide take-away food since 14.03.2020 [7],
- Childcare institutions, all schools and higher education institutions closed on 12.03.2020, formally online education provided since 25.03.2020 [11, 12],
- Since 15.03.2020 foreigners banned from travelling into Poland (with exceptions), while all Poles arriving from abroad quarantined for 14 days after arrival [7],
- Shopping malls, sports and recreation centers, sports events, cinemas, theatres, etc. closed since 14.03.2020 [7]; since 01.04.2020 – hairdressers, beauty salons, physiotherapy, hotels etc. [10],
- Restrictions on the number of people using public transport since 25.03.2020 [9],
- Since 01.04.2020 restrictions on the number of people in shops and designated shopping hours only for 65+ [10], since 02.04.2020 obligation to wear disposable gloves [10],
- Restrictions in workplaces since 02.04.2020: distance between coworkers, access to protective equipment [10],
- Since 16.03.2020 certain hospitals devoted exclusively to patients with (suspicion of) COVID-19 [13].
Government Economic Policies
The government implemented the so called “Anti-crisis shield” which came into force on April 1. The package includes a number of broad measures to support enterprises and workers for the period of three months and includes both direct financial support as well as provisions regarding financial liquidity for companies [14]. In March the National Bank of Poland decreased interest rates and announced that it will support access to credit through targeted longer-term refinancing operations and if necessary will provide monetary stimulus through large scale open market operations [15].
Short Summary of Measures
Labor market [14]:
- Increased flexibility of employee daily and weekly hours of work;
- Extension of childcare leave for parents with children aged 0-8;
- In case activities affected by revenue reduction (revenue fall by 15% year-to-year or 25% month-to-month):
- Self-employed or employees on non-standard contracts to receive a one-off benefit equivalent to 80% of minimum wage;
- Companies to receive support equivalent to 50% of the minimum wage for inactive employees due to the stoppage, provided individual salaries are not reduced by more than 50%;
- Companies to receive support equivalent to up to 40% of average wage for employees whose hours are reduced by 20%;
- Additional employment support provided to SMEs in case of higher revenue loss;
- Relaxation of work and stay permits for foreigners.
Tax breaks [14]:
- Social security contributions to be paid by the government for self-employed and employees employed in small enterprises (up to 9 employees) for three months;
- Tax payments and social security contributions on earnings and profits can be delayed.
Emergency loans, guarantees and support [14]:
- Small-scale loans to small companies;
- Reduced administrative requirements and relaxation of numerous regulatory rules;
- Increased liquidity of firms through channels supported by the Polish Development Fund (PFR):
- extension of de minimis guarantees to SMEs;
- equities and bond issues to be financed by PFR;
- subsidies to commercial loan interest payments from BGK;
- commercial turnover insurance from Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE);
- Relaxation of regulations related to contracts with public institutions (e.g. related to delays).
Monetary policy [15]:
- On 17.03.2020 NBP lowered the main reference interest rate by 0.5 pp and reduced the rate of obligatory reserves from 3,5% to 0,5%.
- NBP announced the readiness to engage in large scale open market operations;
- Targeted longer-term refinancing operations to allow credit refinancing by commercial banks.
References
[1] OECD Health Statistics, https://stats.oecd.org/viewhtml.aspx?datasetcode=HEALTH_REAC&lang=en
[2] Central Statistical Office in Poland (GUS), bdl.stat.gov.pl.
[3] Supreme Medical Chamber (Naczelna Izba Lekarska), https://nil.org.pl/rejestry/centralny-rejestr-lekarzy/informacje-statystyczne
[4] Ministry of Health, https://twitter.com/mz_gov_pl?lang=pl
[5] Warsaw Stock Exchange (Giełda Papierów Wartościowych), https://www.gpw.pl/gpw-statistics
[6] Central Bank of Poland (Narodowy Bank Polski), https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/kursy/kursya.html
[7] Ministry of Health, http://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2020/433
[8] Ministry of Health, http://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2020/491
[9] Ministry of Health, http://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2020/522
[10] ministry of Health, http://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2020/566
[11] Ministry of Science and Higher Education, http://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2020/405
[12] Ministry of National Education, http://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2020/410
[13] https://www.gov.pl/web/koronawirus/lista-szpitali
[14] Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju Przewodnik Antykryzysowy dla Przedsiębiorców 02.04.2020), https://pfr.pl/tarcza
[15] Central Bank of Poland (Narodowy Bank Polski), https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/polityka_pieniezna/dokumenty/komunikaty_rpp.html
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in policy briefs and other publications are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect those of the FREE Network and its research institutes.
COVID-19 | The Case of Belarus
Belarus is a country with about 9.5 million citizens. The area is 207 thousand sqkm which gives a population density of 45.9 persons/sqkm. The capital is Minsk with around 2 million inhabitants, other major cities are Gomel (0.53mn), Mogilev (0.38mn), Vitebsk (0.38mn), Grodno (0.37mn), Brest (0.35mn). Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and is part of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The national currency is the Belarusian Ruble (BYN).
Different responses to the crisis across countries depend partly on the organization of political authority, as reflected in the level of regional decentralization of decision making in key areas of authority, and the strength and independence of public agencies. In the case of Belarus, the power is highly centralized and most decisions are made either by central government or personally by the president.
It is widely considered that the government in Belarus has a small degree of independence from the president. The authority in charge of dealing with pandemics is the Ministry of Health.
Health Indicators
Belarus had its first officially registered case of Covid-19 on February 27 and the first death on March 31. At first, the increase of the newly registered cases was slower than in most other countries, but in the beginning of April, Belarus started to catch up, reaching 351 officially registered total cases by April 3. As of April 3, officials in Belarus have performed 32000 cases and tried to trace and isolate all the close contacts in the early phase of Covid-19 spread.
Belarus has a relatively high numbers of doctors and hospital beds per capita. There are 4 doctors, 12 nurses and 8 hospital beds per 1000 citizens and 2.3 intensive care units per 10,000 citizens. Government officials claim that there are 22 lung ventilators per 100 thousand persons and that this number can be increased to 38 if necessary.
Financial Indicators
Belarus currently does not have a properly functioning stock exchange, so it is hard to provide any strong evidence on the changes in corporate valuations. The Belarusian ruble started to depreciate in late February of 2020. Figure 1 depicts the recent developments in the exchange rate with respect to US dollar. Since the beginning of 2020, the US dollar went from 2.1 BYN to 2.57 BYN.
Figure 1: USD to BYN exchange rate.
Source: National Bank of Belarus.
The developments that can be seen on Figure 1 are largely due to the depreciation of the Russian Ruble which in turn was caused by decrease in oil prices as the OPEC+ agreement have failed in early March of 2020.
Government Health Policies
The government’s strategy so far was to identify and trace all the Covid-19 cases by performing a large number of tests (32,000 as of April 3) and isolating the first-degree contacts of infected persons. Public events with international participation were forbidden, however this does not apply to other public events and gatherings including football games and music concerts. As of April 4, government officials are still planning to hold the WW2 victory parade on May 9. Borders and airports are not closed, but persons arriving from abroad are advised to self-isolate for 14 days. There is no state-wide closure of schools and universities. The only closed teaching institutions are those which had students with officially confirmed Covid-19.
There is no state-wide quarantine as government officials deem it unnecessary and President Lukashenka calls the situation “Covid hysteria”. Among the measures taken up to date is financial regulatory easing ordered by the National Bank of Belarus. The government also issued a decree that consumer prices should not increase by more than 0.5% per month. In addition to that, the government plans to spend 110 million BYN (42.5 million USD) on economic support measures.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in policy briefs and other publications are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect those of the FREE Network and its research institutes.
COVID-19 | The Case of Latvia
The first positive COVID – 19 case in Latvia was confirmed on March 3. By April 5, the number of positive cases grew to 533. The share of positive tests remains quite stable and is currently slightly below 3%.
State of Emergency
On March 12, the government declared the state of emergency until at least April 14. The adopted measures include suspension of all on-site education activities at schools and universities, prohibition of any public gatherings, festivals or other organized public events. People are advised to stay home, many companies are switching to remote work. There is no closure of public transportation, but, as of March 21, the number of routes and transportation frequency is being reduced because of a significant fall in the number of passengers.
On March 14, Latvia announced a national lockdown that became effective on March 17. All organized cross-border passenger traffic is closed until at least April 14. Riga airport is closed except for cargo aircrafts. Border crossing is also banned for private vehicles, except for Latvians returning to Latvia and for foreigners leaving Latvia. The government is now considering to prolong the state of emergency to three months. This implies that Latvia can remain in the state of emergency until mid-June.
As of March 28, all shopping centers are closed on weekends, except for grocery stores, pharmacies and construction shops. As of March 31, it is not allowed to stay outdoors in groups of more than 2 people (this does not apply to members of the same household). There should be at least a 2-meter distance between any groups of two people. This rule applies to staying outdoors, shops, public transport, and any other public spaces.
Fiscal Measures
The government announced a package of measures totaling approximately EUR 2 billion (equivalent to 80% of one-month Latvian GDP). The measures include financing of the sickness benefit (normally the first 10 days of the sickness leave is covered by the employer), postponement of all personal income tax advance payments, provision of up to three years of tax holidays to companies, state-guaranteed bank loan holidays and state-financed loans. Employees of the affected firms are eligible for a special compensation worth 75% of the employees’ wage (maximum 700 EUR per month). In addition, municipalities will provide additional support to the most vulnerable groups that are unable to meet their basic needs due to the crisis (e.g. the unemployed not (yet) receiving the unemployment benefit, persons in self-isolation or quarantine).
On April 2, the State Employment Agency informed that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 companies in Latvia have announced collective redundancies, which will lead to 3278 employees being laid off. This mainly includes layoffs in transportation, catering and accommodation sectors.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in policy briefs and other publications are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect those of the FREE Network and its research institutes.
COVID-19 | The Case of Sweden
Sweden is a country of around 10 million people. The area is 450 thousand sqkm which gives a population density of 22.7 persons/sqkm. The capital is Stockholm with 1.5 million inhabitants, other major cities are Gothenburg (0.6mn), Malmö (0.3mn), and Uppsala (0.2mn). Sweden has been a member of the EU since 1995 but is not a member of the Eurozone.
Different responses across countries to the crisis depend partly on the organization of political authority, as reflected in the level of regional decentralization of decision making in key areas of authority, and the strength and independence of public agencies. In the case of Sweden, the government has three levels, the central government, 21 regions and 290 municipalities. The regions are responsible for – among other things – health care, while municipalities are in charge of elderly care and schools, all institutions which play an important role in the response to Covid-19.
Public agencies in Sweden have a significant degree of independence from the government and line ministers as long as the agency delivers on the mission and guidelines determined by the government. The agency in charge of dealing with pandemics is the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2020), which states on their website that “The Public Health Agency of Sweden has a national responsibility for public health issues and works to ensure good public health. The agency also works to ensure that the population is protected against communicable diseases and other health threats.” The Public Health Agency of Sweden has advised the government on which actions to take in the Covid-19 crisis. It is also Sweden’s Coordinating Competent Body for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Other important authorities involved in health recommendations and crisis measures are Socialstyrelsen (Socialstyrelsen, 2020) and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB, 2020).
Health Indicators
Sweden had its first recorded case of Covid-19 on February 1, but then it took until February 27 for the next case to be registered. In the first week of March, a more significant number of people were diagnosed with the virus as people had returned to Sweden with symptoms after having been in the Italian Alps during the school winter holiday the week before. A few early cases were also related to travel to and from Iran. The indicators on Covid-19 numbers in the table are from the ECDC (ECDC, 2020). The OECD provides numbers on nurses and doctors per 1000 inhabitants.
Figure 1: Nurses. Total, per 1000 inhabitants, 2018 or latest available
Source: OECD Health Statistics.
Figure 2: Doctors. Total, per 1000 inhabitants, 2018 or latest available
Source: OECD Health Statistics.Doctors.
Financial Indicators
Sweden is highly integrated in international financial markets and has a well-developed and liquid stock market. Despite being an EU member country, Sweden keeps its own currency, the Swedish krona (SEK), which is free floating since the Swedish Riksbank is targeting inflation rather than fixing the exchange rate.
The stock market data (see below) is from Nasdaq Stockholm and is the main index of large companies called OMX30.
Figure 3: Stock market data
Source: Nasdaq Nordic
The exchange rate data is from FOREX which provides travellers with foreign currency and is the selling rate for SEK/USD.
Figure 4: Exchange rate data
Source: Forex 2020
The exchange rates are not the same as those that would be used by financial institutions and companies but easily available and movements in this exchange rate, which is what we use here, follow the institutional rates closely.
Laid off workers are the number of workers that have been given notice by their employer that they will be laid off and the numbers are reported on a monthly basis by the Swedish Public Employment Service. In the wake of the corona crisis they are now making more frequent updates to their numbers and have regular press releases to complement their standard data reporting (Arbetsförmedlingen, 2020).
Government Health Policies
In general, the government follows the recommendations of the Public Health Agency of Sweden (PHAS) and other trusted authorities.[1] However, it is also clear that the regions, which are in charge of providing health care, make their own adjustment to some of the recommendations that are issued by the PHAS. For example, the region of Stockholm has adjusted the recommended use of protective equipment to be used by medical staff, most likely in light of shortages. Testing is also not centralized and the PHAS will hold a meeting at the end of March with the different parties involved in testing.
[1] The government states “The Public Health Agency of Sweden coordinates communicable disease control at national level and provides daily updates regarding the situation in Sweden. The National Board of Health and Welfare supports and coordinates the health and medical care preparedness of the various regions. The Government is in daily contact with these agencies. The Government has issued the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Public Health Agency of Sweden several instructions on limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2. The Government will ensure that the expert agencies and the health and medical care system have the resources necessary to limit the spread of the virus.”
Short Summary of Measures
Mobility restrictions:
- Restriction on size of public gatherings; 500 and then 50 people.
- Restrictions on bars and restaurants, no standing in line or at the bar, only service at tables.
- High schools and higher education institutions are closed and instead provide online education.
- Travel to Sweden from non-EU countries is stopped.
- Visits to nursing homes are forbidden.
Health care:
- Extra delivery of face masks.
- Coordinated efforts to procure more medical equipment.
- Provision of extra hospital beds and intensive care beds.
- Additional government funding to health care providers and related agencies.
- Information campaigns to public and social services personnel.
- Contributions to WHO emergency fund.
Government Economic Policies
In addition to the health and prevention measures, the government has announced an extensive list of measures to deal with the economic impact of the pandemic. These are implemented by several ministries as well as the central bank and the financial supervisory authority.
Short Summary of Measures
Labor market:
- Unemployment benefits extended to more people.
- Sick-pay restrictions removed.
- Government funding for shortened working time.
Tax breaks:
- Tax payments can be delayed.
Emergency loans, guarantees and support:
- Loan guarantees to SMEs.
- Capital injection to ALMI to support loans to SMEs.
- Extra funding for export credits.
- Extra funding for export guarantees.
- Financial support to culture and sports.
- Guarantees to the Nordic airline SAS.
Central Bank measures:
- Loans to banks at low interest and reduced collateral restrictions; banks that benefits from these loans pay a fine if they do not increase their credit supply significantly.
- Loans to banks in USD.
- Purchases of government and mortgage bonds.
- Purchases of commercial papers.
Financial regulator:
- Counter cyclical buffers for banks set to zero.
- Relaxed amortization requirements for households.
- Banks allowed to fall below liquidity coverage ratios.
References
- Arbetsförmedlingen, Swedish Public Employment Service. 2020. English. https://arbetsformedlingen.se/other-languages/english-engelska (2020-03-24)
- Arbetsförmedlingen, Swedish Public Employment Service. 2020. Pressmeddelanden. https://arbetsformedlingen.se/om-oss/press/pressmeddelanden (2020-03-23)
- Arbetsförmedlingen, Swedish Public Employment Service. 2020. Statistik. https://arbetsformedlingen.se/om-oss/statistik-och-analyser/statistik (2020-03-24)
- ECDC, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: An agency of the European Union. Download today’s data on the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases worldwide. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide (2020-03-23)
- Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2020. Our mission – to strengthen and develop public health. https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/the-public-health-agency-of-sweden/ (2020-03-23)
- Forex, 2020. Växla valuta. https://www.forex.se/valuta/usd (2020-03-24)
- MSB, The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. 2020. https://www.msb.se/en/ (2020-03-23)
- Nasdaqomxnordic, 2020. OMXS30, OMX STOCKHOLM 30 INDEX, (SE0000337842). http://www.nasdaqomxnordic.com/indexes/historical_prices?Instrument=SE0000337842 (2020-03-23)
- OECD, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2020. Doctors. https://data.oecd.org/healthres/doctors.htm (2020-03-24)
- OECD, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2020. Nurses. https://data.oecd.org/healthres/nurses.htm (2020-03-24)
- Government Offices of Sweden, 2020. The Government’s work in response to the virus responsible for COVID-19. https://www.government.se/government-policy/the-governments-work-in-response-to-the-virus-responsible-for-covid-19/ (2020-03-23)
- Socialstyrelsen, 2020. Learn more about Swedish Health Care. https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/en/ (2020-03-24)
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in policy briefs and other publications are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect those of the FREE Network and its research institutes.