Since first announcing itself in Wuhan in China at the start of the year, the pandemic has led to society-wide lockdowns across the world, bringing all but commerce and services deemed most essential to a sudden halt and leaving large portions of populations sheltering at home and many out of work. The IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook, predicts the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression as a result of these measures. The WTO has also revised its forecast for global trade in 2020, projecting that volumes could fall by between 13% and 32%, depending on the length of the pandemic and the effectiveness of policy responses.

To help companies navigate the uncertainty, The Economist Intelligence Unit developed a Global Business Barometer to track private sector views on the impact of covid-19, how businesses are coping, and their plans for the next three months and beyond.

This episode is hosted by Charles Ross, editorial director of The EIU for Asia, with guest Andrew Staples, editorial director of the Economist Corporate Network. The Global Business Barometer has been made possible with the support of SAS, a global provider of data — and analytics software and services — that help turn data into intelligence.

Subscribe now for the latest episodes.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.