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“It took a long time, but the Republicans and Democrats in Washington finally agreed on a second large-scale aid program. It will be passed in the US Congress this Monday.
The package has a volume of almost 900 billion US dollars and provides, among other things, direct payments to US citizens who have been particularly hard hit by the crisis. This includes weekly payments of $ 600. The Democrats originally asked for $ 1,200. This is also the reason why the volume of the aid program does not reach the 1.5 trillion dollars assumed a few weeks ago. The package also provides for $ 284 billion for the so-called “Paycheck Protection Program”. Here, loans are granted to smaller businesses. There is also money for the airlines, vaccine distribution, educational institutions and food aid.
At the same time, the budget dispute was also settled. The US budget and the associated funding through September 30, 2021 are now also in place.
Many US citizens will breathe a sigh of relief. On balance, almost 10 million jobs have still not been created since the outbreak of the crisis. In many households it is a matter of bare survival due to the poorly developed social system. The agreement in Washington is therefore also good news for the entire US economy. Retail sales had recently been battered. The Washington checks should keep the US economy afloat in the coming months. Precisely for this reason, the measures should not be understood as an economic stimulus, but as a rescue measure. It is simply a matter of preventing the worst, which is another severe recession.
As good as the news from Washington is, the financial markets are already focusing on new topics. On the one hand, there are the still unanswered questions regarding the Brexit successor agreement. The latest mutation in Covid-19 is also causing concern. So there is still tension – until the proverbial very last minute. The EU and Great Britain should have reached an agreement no later than 12/31/2020 at midnight. “(VP Bank / mc)
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