Coming 'good' out of the pandemic!

Mckinsey Report dated August 6, 2020 says "Millions of employees have lost their jobs and cannot pay their credit cards. Restaurants and shops are only slowly reopening; many cannot pay their rent. Industrial companies can’t make payments on their equipment leases. Landlords have less income and cannot keep up with their mortgages.

Suddenly, the world is awash in credit risk. Our new research shows how banks are tending to a radical surge in demand for one of their most ancient practices: measuring and monitoring credit risk. Leading banks are deploying a new configuration of sector analysis, borrower resilience, and high-frequency analytics. They are moving past sectoral analysis to take sub-sector views of the probability of default (exhibit). Some are going even deeper, to understand what’s happening in the financial life of their borrowers."

Global media ad spending is likely to take a hit due to the corona virus, according to newly revised eMarketer estimates, but for now nearly all of the related slowdown is attributable to China alone. Companies with supply chains dependent on China might begin to reduce their ad spend as a way to mitigate economic losses. The spread of corona virus is likely to boost digital media consumption across the board as people spend more time at home and communicate in person less.

Social networks could be a major beneficiary, as people turn to these platforms to connect with friends and family who may be at a distance or to access news content. Streaming video services are also likely to benefit as people seek out more entertainment or news content. The biggest bumps in usage and time spent are likely to go to dominant SVODs, like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, and could even drive some subscriber additions, Media platforms popular among young people could see a boost as kids and teens spend more time indoors, and in particular if school closures spread further. 

According to report, almost half (46%) of Indian businesses covered under a survey felt 'very strongly' impacted by the pandemic, yet more than half (54%) felt they were as well prepared as they possibly could be. The innovation and creativity of small entrepreneurs offers an interesting case. There was a time when every small business would set for itself the target of when to seek venture funding, when to go public, and how to scale up and become large. These may not be the default goals after this crisis. 

The residential property market in metros such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Chennai have witnessed an increasing number of young professionals vacating rented homes and paying-guest accommodation, or asking for rent relief. As the economic disruption made consumers rethink consumption habits, movement restrictions served a body blow to most businesses. Conventional norms were questioned and established business strategies made way for quick-thinking and fast-adapting work processes.

A huge plunge in consumer spending as people stayed home and avoided shopping, travelling or gathering in crowds as the virus raged is estimated to have sent the economy sinking at a roughly 32 per cent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The 35% consumer base expansion is striking since pre-pandemic, chemists accounted for around 10% of FMCG sales. Personal care and infant care products have always been regular items on pharmacy shelves.

Jobs will be cut across sales and hiring divisions of the group globally. Announcing the plan in a message posted on LinkedIn's website, Chief Executive Ryan Roslansky said the company would provide at least 10 weeks of severance pay as well as health insurance for a year for U.S. employees. IndiGo has decided to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce due to the economic crisis caused by the corona virus pandemic, its CEO Ronojoy Dutta said.

This severe economic impact has been seen by all of us now working from home or also those who are going to work places but find commuting a big issue without regular train and bus as well as metro services not being available in many cities of India. The coming few months are full of festivals in India starting with Ganesh festival this month followed by Navratri, Diwali and Christmas by end of the year will all be a very low key affair and people will tend to stay away from going out to enjoy the celebrations. Things look very tough and challenging for all the sectors in manufacturing as well as trading as the markets look very dull and there is no sign of recovery till end of 2020. Let us pray that the vaccine is made available soon and we all are assured of the low cost vaccine to save our lives and those coming generations too. Stay blessed! #kishoreshintre