1. The “frugal four” EU member states are leading the opposition against Germany’s recovery plan, which would see the bloc hand out €500bn in grants to the countries most severely hit by the pandemic. They are calling for a “realistic level of spending” instead. Who are the frugal four?
a. The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden
b. The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Finland
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c. Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark
d. Romania, Ukraine, Poland and Austria
2. How much have banks borrowed from the European Central Bank at a negative interest rate?
a. €1.3bn
b. €1.3trn
d. €100.3bn
c. €13.3trn
3. What country is facing a coin shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic?
a. Mexico
b. Canada
c. US
d. Brazil
4. By how much is the Australian minimum wage increasing?
a. $13 an hour
b. $13 a day
c. $13 a month
d. $13 a week
5. UK government debt rose above 100% of GDP in may for the first time since when?
a. 1953
b. 1949
c. 1963
d. 1972
6. Which country reported that although its economy remained in an “extremely severe situation” due to the coronavirus pandemic, it had “almost stopped worsening”?
a. Japan
b. Australia
c. New Zealand
d. Singapore
7. Which Chinese city could be facing a full lockdown after a cluster of 158 new cases of coronavirus threatens to turn into a second wave?
a. Wuhan
b. Beijing
c. Shanghai
d. Guangzhou
8. How much did cruise holiday company Carnival lose in three months due to the coronavirus pandemic?
a. $2.2bn
b. $8.4bn
c. $4.4bn
d. $5.6bn
9. Which European country’s economy fell 34% in the first two weeks of a strict coronavirus lockdown?
a. Germany
b. France
c. Italy
d. Spain
10. Coronavirus is worsening Britain’s racial wealth gap. How much money do black African households have per every £1 that a white household has?
a. 75p
b. 10p
c. 50p
d. 25p
Answers
1) a. The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden. Led by Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, the frugal four, The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden, could soon be joined by Baltic countries and eastern member states in voicing their criticism at parts of the recovery fund, says Mehreen Khan in the Financial Times
2) b. €1.3trn. The ECB said 742 banks had applied to borrow €1.31trn under its main loan scheme, which will lend them money over three years at rates as low as -1%.
3) c. US. The US has linked its coin shortage to “the broader fate of the economy” as consumers and businesses navigate the pandemic. The central bank said it’s working to fix the situation, says Michael S Derby in The Wall Street Journal.
4) d. $13 a week. Australia's Fair Work Commission ordered a $13 a week increase in the national minimum wage, making it $753.80 a week or $19.84 an hour.
5) c. 1963. “The 21 percentage point increase in debt over the last year means Britain owes more as a share of the economy than at any time since Harold Macmillan was prime minister, the Profumo scandal gripped the nation and The Beatles released their first album,” says David Goodman on Bloomberg.
6) a. Japan. Japan’s government raised its economic assessment for the first time since 2018 in June as the harm caused by the coronavirus had nearly come to an end, says Kaori kaneko on Reuters. The country is expected to suffer its worst postwar slump this quarter.
7) b. Beijing.
8) c. $4.4bn. Revenues dropped to $700m from $4.8bn from the March-May period in 2019 as the cruise company’s business was all but sunk by the pandemic, says Gwyn Topham in The Guardian. The group plans to sell six cruise ships.
9) d. Spain. There was a 34% fall in output between March 16 and 31 compared to the eurozone average of 21%, says El Pais
10) b. 10p. The average white British household has around £282,000 in wealth, including property, according to the Office for National Statistics. Black African households in Britain have just £23,800. Just one in five black African households owns their own home, says Marianna Hunt in the Daily Telegraph, compared to more than 68% of white British households
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