European banking chiefs today announced an unprecedented €750 billion cash injection to limit the economic impact of coronavirus.
The European Central Bank’s president, Christine Lagarde, said the emergency injection of funds was needed because “extraordinary times require extraordinary action”. The money will be used to buy government and company debt across the eurozone. The aim is to prop up the economies of countries such as Italy and Greece, which have been hit by mass holiday cancellations to add to their existing woes.
Ms Lagarde tweeted: “There are no limits to our commitment to the euro. We are determined to use the full potential of our tools, within our mandate.” Her action follows tumbling stock markets, job losses and an economic standstill produced by lockdowns and travel restrictions across the Continent.
In Italy, which appears poised to overtake China as the country with the highest number of deaths, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that the current lockdown, the first to be imposed in Europe, would be extended. In France, police threatened to abandon their key role enforcing their country’s lockdown.
The officers are on the frontline, handing out £128 fines to anyone caught on the street without official documentation. But a series of videos posted online appeared to show them breaking basic health guidelines by grouping together and handling potential disease carriers as they issued £500,000 worth of fines yesterday. Very few officers were wearing masks.
Benoît Barret, national secretary of the Alliance police union, today said: “Alliance’s position is clear: if colleagues are not safe, they will exercise their right of withdrawal.
“Behind each policeman, there is a father, a mother, a brother. You have the right to be a policeman and not become a spreader.”
Europe is at the centre of the coronavirus pandemic. Italy suffered 475 deaths yesterday, the highest death toll in a single day so far.
