The economic damage from the Covid-19 outbreak will be unprecedented, according to the head of one of the world’s largest hedge funds Ray Dalio, who says global corporate losses from the epidemic will amount to $12 trillion.
“What’s happening has not happened in our lifetime before … What we have is a crisis,” Dalio told CNBC. “There will also be individuals who have very big losses… There’s a need for the government to spend more money, a lot more money… A lot of people are going to be broke.” Talking about US corporations he said they will lose as much as $4 trillion.
The founder of Bridgewater Associates explained that the US fiscal stimulus package should be $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion at a minimum, depending on the form of financial relief such as loan guarantees and credits.
Dalio said there’s an “inability of central banks to stimulate in a way that’s normal.” They have less capacity to ease monetary policies when interest rates have already hit the floor, he added.
“We are now at a point where there will have to be a debt restructuring and a monetization of that. We’re living in a different world like the 1930s in which 1930s, 1932 you have a devaluation of the dollar. You have the printing of money.”
The White House has announced this week a $1 trillion stimulus package that could help soften the blow of a sudden recession. The funds will include direct payments or tax cuts and small business assistance. The Federal Reserve has also unveiled plans to pump an additional $1 trillion into the US economy through asset purchases and cut interest rates to zero.
