Subdued and fragile growth prospects, together with calls for policymakers to support an inclusive recovery, will challenge fiscal consolidation this year. High debt levels and stop-start growth intensify the risk and potential impact of another shock.
Jaime Reusche and Gabriel Torres of the Sovereign team discuss our negative credit outlook on Latin American sovereigns. Although we expect the region to broadly return to GDP growth in 2021, economic revival will take time and pressure on governments to boost spending on social programs will build in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
Donald Robertson and Ana Arsov of the Banking team explain how the lessons global investment banks learned from the financial crisis better prepared them to withstand coronavirus stresses, and how strong capital markets revenue buffered the large loan-loss provisions they booked during 2020. Plus, Mark Wasden and Bruno Baretta of the Banking team explore how coronavirus effects are driving the negative outlook for most global finance companies.