Hugo Erken is head of International Economics at RaboResearch Global Economics & Markets.
Hugo coordinates the team of international economists within GEM that is responsible for analyzing and forecasting international macroeconomic, political and financial developments. Besides his coordinating tasks, Hugo is a country analyst for the US and India and has a special interest in thematic work covering the labour market and productivity.
Hugo joined RaboResearch in 2015. Previously, Hugo has worked for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, and the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. Hugo graduated in International Economics at Radboud University Nijmegen and wrote his PhD dissertation on Productivity, R&D and Entrepreneurship at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Economic Report
We expect the COVID-19 to cost each Indian between INR 8,000 to 16,000 in 2025 of missed economic growth compared to a benchmark scenario of no pandemic, depending on the shape of the recovery. However, if the USD 270bn recent stimulus package addresses India’s structural weakness and is properly executed, India’s economy could even emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.
Column
Hoe snel wij herstellen uit de coronacrisis zal bepalend zijn voor de economische schade. Bij een V-vormig herstel ligt het verlies gemiddeld op 2.000 euro voor iedere Nederlander, maar bij een U-vormig herstel hebben we het al over een verdubbeling.
Special
While we currently expect a V-shaped recovery for the global economy, there is a clear risk of a more U-shaped or even L-shaped recovery. There could also be effects on global growth beyond the 2021 horizon. We expect annual structural growth (up to 2030) in the US to drop from 1.6% to 1.4%. For the Netherlands, structural growth is set to decline from 1.3% to 1.1%.
Economic Comment
Due to the extended lockdown until 3 May, we have revised our economic outlook and expect the Indian economy to contract by 8.7% in Q2 and the fiscal year 2020/21 to arrive at 1.2%. We also expect the RBI to cut policy rates by another 90 basis points in June, and it might initiate a cap on the reverse repo window or even adopt debt monetization.
Special
Economische voorspellingen in crisistijd zijn nog onzekerder dan normaal. Daarom werken we met scenario-analyses. Voor de huidige crisis hebben wij aannames gemaakt over de lengte en omvang van de lockdown-maatregelen, het monetaire en begrotingsbeleid, de omvang van handelsbelemmeringen en structurele productiviteitseffecten.
Special
We have revised our economic forecasts and expect the global economy to contract by 2.6% in 2020. How quickly the economy recovers after the coronavirus crisis depends on how fast people get back to work and whether productivity growth is permanently damaged.
Economic Comment
We expect a sharp decline of the Indian economy in the second quarter of 2020 of -5.7% (y-o-y) due to the three-week lockdown and adverse trade effects. For calendar 2020 as a whole, we now expect growth at around 1.3% and for 2021 we expect a sharp rebound of 7.6%.
Special
We have changed our base case and now expect a recession in virtually all G10 countries, which will lead world economic growth to slow to 0.7% for 2020, the weakest this figure has been since the great financial crisis of 2008/2009.
Column
We have estimated the impact of COVID-19 on India’s economy, which in our base case is relatively benign due to India’s limited ties with China. However, if there the virus spreads further within India growth will go down sharply.
Economic Quarterly Report Dutch version
COVID-19 has the global economy in its grip. Apart from a sharp slowdown in China, we also expect a recession in Germany and Italy. If large parts of the world experience outbreaks on the scale of Italy or China, then practically all advanced economies would fall into recession.