COVID-19 Business News

coronavirus, masks

World Bank commits £9.4bn aid to help poor countries fight virus

THE WORLD Bank has committed $12bn (£9.4bn) to help developing countries cope with the spread of coronavirus. The aid package includes technical assistance as well...
Amazon warehouse in Spain

Amazon workers unlimited Covid-19 sick leave… with a few strings attached

CORONAVIRUS is causing havoc in the business world, and some novel stop-gap solutions are appearing amid the chaos. Amazon has good and bad news for...
Women's Day graphic

Embracing the ‘Mama Bear Moment’: Gender-equality is moving on apace

On International Women’s Day, TEODORA GAVRILUT looks at how things are changing – mostly for the better AGAINST the backdrop of 2020’s challenges, there has...
UNCTAD logo

Shipping data points to a rebound in world trade: UNCTAD report

THE NUMBER of ships pulling into ports to unload and load containers rebounded in many parts of the world in the third quarter of...
Spanish property market, €3m plus house

Dream is alive, but the landscape has changed for UK second-home...

The pandemic pain in Spain falls mainly on the lower end of the property market — but, as HAL WILLIAMS discovers, international second-home owners...
wages, salary, furlough

Employers welcome UK government decision to extend furlough scheme

By Hal Williams A DECISION to extend the British government’s furlough programme has been met with relief by UK employers. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi...
Hands, calculator, paperwork

Bid to ease virus impacts on cash flow ‘flawed’ — CEO

THE UK government’s proposed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CIBLS) is coming in for some criticism. HM Treasury and the Bank of England last week...
Covid, downward graph, pandemic debt concept

SMEs and the wolf at the door

By LUCY TROTT and KATIE PHILIPSON THROUGHOUT the pandemic, a steady stream of government support was made available to prop-up businesses. As we move towards a...
Euro bank notes

ECB launches new aid package to soothe effects of pandemic

By HAL WILLIAMS THE EUROPEAN Central Bank has launched a €750bn emergency package to buy government and company debt across the eurozone. The temporary purchasing scheme...
UN SDG8 Decent work and economic growth

SDG8: From Luddites to the Mumbai exodus: workers labouring without love

JASON AGNEW reports on SDG8 — decent work and economic growth — in his ongoing series for BV SDG8: DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH On March...