Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The UK economy grew by 2.1% in August. The slower growth leaves UK activity 9.2% below its level in February. On Friday chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that employees who work for UK firms forced to shut by law because of coronavirus restrictions will receive 67% of their wages, starting in November and lasting for six months.
Tradecast – Count us in! MSME inclusion in global trade
Free Webinar – 15th October 2020. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are one of the strongest drivers of economic development, innovation and employment. Access to finance is often identified as a critical barrier to growth for MSMEs. Creating opportunities for MSMEs in emerging markets is key to advancing economic development and reducing poverty. Read more →
UK and Ukraine sign Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement
Boris Johnson and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have signed the ‘Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement’ to strengthen UK cooperation in political, security, and foreign matters with Ukraine, while also securing continued preferential trade for businesses and consumers. Read more →
Multilateral development banks call for measures to support trade continuity in Sub-Saharan Africa
The report, Pulse Check, which brings together perspectives & insights from 70 trade finance executives from 20 countries, unanimously calls for an urgent switch in the focus of support programs towards private sector and smaller enterprises to avoid a ‘second wave insolvency crisis’ that threatens greater, and far more widespread, economic hardship on the continent than we have seen till now. Read more →
How the Covid-19 shipping slump is disrupting UK’s Ecommerce sector
As the UK government attempts to balance public health measures against the economic slowdown and shutdown of non-essential businesses, the slump in trading across the shipping sector creates a domino effect, impacting the ecommerce industry. Read more →
S&P Global Ratings: approach Q3 growth upticks with caution
Global growth looks set to rebound sharply following the record contractions in the second quarter of 2020, and there will likely be record positive growth rates in many economies in the third quarter of the year. While the rebound is certainly welcome, S&P Global Ratings has this week said that improvements are not yet a cause for celebration. Read more →
Singapore launches the world’s first blockchain-based solution aimed at preventing double financing fraud
Leading Singaporean banks are rallying together to solve the issue of duplicate financing fraud that amasses to a few billion dollars each year. The move is highly encouraged and supported by government bodies including International Enterprise Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and The Association of Banks in Singapore amongst others. Read more →
Government secures access for British business to £1.3 trillion of global procurement contracts
The Department for International Trade (DIT) has today announced that British businesses will be able to continue bidding for public sector contracts around the world worth over £1.3 trillion a year, following extensive engagement with World Trade Organization members. Read more →
Trade shows signs of rebound from COVID-19, recovery still uncertain
World trade shows signs of bouncing back from a deep, COVID-19 induced slump, but World Trade Organization economists caution that any recovery could be disrupted by the ongoing pandemic effects. The WTO now forecasts a 9.2% decline in the volume of world merchandisetrade for 2020, followed by a 7.2% rise in 2021. Read more →
