(Original title: The outbreak of the epidemic in Japan and France announced an emergency! A rare plunge of 730 billion U.S. bank loans suddenly collapsed)
The situation seems to be getting more serious.
Currently, Japan is facing the “worst bird flu epidemic” in history. According to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), from October 2022 to March 2023, about 17.4 million chickens in Japan will be culled due to bird flu According to data released by a large Japanese sales company, since April, the wholesale price of medium-sized eggs in Tokyo has risen by 65% year-on-year, reaching the highest level since records began in 1993 .
At the same time, the bird flu epidemic in Europe and the United States is also very serious. Among them, France is one of the EU countries most severely affected by bird flu, and in 2022 a total of more than 20 million poultry and birds will be culled. On April 6, local time, the French government urgently announced that it would launch a bidding activity for 80 million doses of bird flu vaccine. France has become the first EU country to start a bird flu vaccine program.
In addition, the latest data released by the Federal Reserve also attracted attention. On April 7, local time, the Federal Reserve’s latest “Assets and Liabilities Sheets of Commercial Banks in the United States” showed that in the past two weeks, the scale of seasonally adjusted loans of commercial banks in the United States plummeted by nearly US$105 billion (about 730 billion yuan). , the biggest drop since 1973.
unprecedented outbreak
Currently, Japan is experiencing the worst bird flu outbreak in the country’s history. A large number of infected birds have been culled, and there is not enough land to bury the dead birds. According to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), from October 2022 to March 2023, about 17.4 million chickens in Japan will be culled due to bird flu, reaching a record high.
On April 7, CCTV News quoted Bloomberg as saying that Japan is facing the “worst bird flu epidemic” in history. In order to prevent the spread of the virus or water pollution, dead poultry carcasses must be properly disposed of. As the number of culled poultry far exceeds expectations, Governments in many places in Japan have stated that it is difficult to find suitable land to bury a large number of dead poultry, and some areas are disposing of dead poultry carcasses through incineration.
According to reports, a large number of laying hens have been culled, leading to soaring egg prices and supply shortages in Japan. According to data released by a large Japanese sales company, since April, the wholesale price of medium-sized eggs in Tokyo has risen by 65% year-on-year, reaching 1993. Highest ever recorded.
According to the relevant regulations of the Japanese government, eggs are given priority to ensure the supply of eggs to families, and some large catering companies are thus faced with the dilemma of “no eggs available”. At present, many companies, including McDonald’s and convenience store chain 7-11, have suspended the sale of egg products or raised the prices of related products.
At present, global egg prices are also continuing to rise. Rabobank pointed out in a report that global egg prices will reach an all-time high in the first quarter of 2023, 2.5 times higher than the benchmark price in 2007, and 2.5 times higher than the same period in 2022. Up more than 100%.
At the same time, the bird flu epidemic in Europe and the United States is also very serious. Among them, France is one of the EU countries most severely affected by bird flu, and in 2022 a total of more than 20 million poultry and birds will be culled.
On April 6, local time, the French government urgently announced that it would launch a bidding activity for 80 million doses of bird flu vaccine. France is also the first EU country to start a bird flu vaccine program.
Currently, France has authorized two companies – Ceva Animal Health in France and Boehringher Ingelheim in Germany – to develop bird flu vaccines. According to Ceva, the initial results are very promising, showing that the virus levels in the feces of infected birds have been significantly reduced.
Australia’s new crown epidemic rises for 8th consecutive week
According to the latest report from the Australian media 9news, the number of new crown cases across Australia has risen for the eighth consecutive week, and the new crown will become the third leading cause of death for Australians in 2022.
Most states and territories recorded an increase in the number of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths in the week to April 6, the report said.
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler made it clear at a press conference that the new crown epidemic is far from over.
According to data released by the Actuaries Institute, there will be 20,000 more deaths in Australia in 2022 than when there was no new crown epidemic. The data shows that 10,300 people in Australia will die directly from the new crown in 2022, making it the third leading cause of death for Australians in 2022, while the number of deaths from the new crown in 2021 will be 1,400, when the new crown was listed as the 34th leading cause of death.
In addition to the rebound of the new crown epidemic, Australia is also facing another threat of the early arrival of the flu season. According to incomplete statistics, more than 15,000 people have been infected with the flu virus in the east coast of Australia alone.
In addition, the new crown epidemic in India seems to be showing signs of rising. India has recorded 6,050 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Friday, as the country reported another surge in cases. The country also reported 5,300 cases yesterday. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the country has now risen to 28,303.
According to the latest data disclosed by the Canadian government website, as of April 7, 2023, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada is 4,634,227 (7,858 new cases in a week), and 52,121 deaths (135 new cases in a week).
suddenly collapsed
Under the banking crisis, the credit environment in the United States suffered a severe blow.
On April 7, local time, the Federal Reserve’s latest “Assets and Liabilities Sheets of Commercial Banks in the United States” (referred to as “H.8 Form”) showed that U.S. bank credit contracted the most on record in the last two weeks of March. . This suggests that US credit conditions are tightening in the wake of the banking crisis.
Specifically, in the past two weeks, the seasonally adjusted loan scale of U.S. commercial banks has plummeted by nearly 105 billion U.S. dollars (about 730 billion yuan), the largest drop since the Federal Reserve since 1973; commercial bank deposits have decreased by 64.7 billion in the most recent week The U.S. dollar (approximately RMB 450 billion), decreased for the 10th consecutive week.
Among them, in terms of bank size, the seasonally adjusted loans of the 25 largest US chartered banks decreased by US$23.5 billion, while the loans of smaller commercial banks decreased by US$73.6 billion during the same period; the loans of foreign institutions in the US decreased by US$7.5 billion .
It should be noted that Form H.8 reflects the estimated weekly aggregate balance sheets of all U.S. commercial banks to measure the latest state of U.S. credit. In a briefing this week, the Federal Reserve noted that in the week ending March 22, 2023, large chartered commercial banks divested $87 billion of assets to nonbanks, including $60 billion in loans, implying that U.S. credit Permanent tightening.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said the banking crisis has increased the chances of a recession. The failures “have caused significant unease in the markets and will clearly lead to a tightening of some financial conditions as banks and other lenders become more conservative,” he said in an annual letter.
In addition, Ellen Zentner, chief economist at Morgan Stanley, said that under the conditions of further tightening of lending standards and contraction of bank loans, the forecast for US real GDP growth in 2023 was lowered by 10 basis points to 0.3%.
