The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association has called on the fiscal and monetary authorities to develop a more aggressive and decisive policies to sustain economic recovery in the wake of further decrease in oil price.

The Director-General of NECA, Dr Timothy Olawale, made the call on Monday in a statement made available to Newsmen.

He said the association made this call because it anticipated a contraction in the second quarter, as the economy witnessed a six-week lockdown in the commercial nerve centres of the country.

Olawale noted that similar trend was witnessed in the global economy, except China, whose consumption of fuel due to opening of industrial hubs and transportation could portend mild positive growth pattern due to demand for crude oil.

The NECA boss reemphasized his call for stimulus packages for the worst-hit sectors of the economy in order to avoid contraction.

The number of the nation’s power plants sitting idle increased by three on Monday to 10, prompting generation to tumble below 3,000 megawatts.

According to the Nigerian Electricity System Operator, Total power generation in the country fell to 2,626.9MW as of 6am on Monday from 3,738MW the previous day.

The shutdown of the power plants was attributed to gas constraint, low load demand by the distribution companies, maintenance, frequency response and rupturing of gas pipeline.

Brent oil against which Nigeria’s crude is priced, has hovered around $35 per barrel for about one week, raising concerns of a possible hike in petrol price in Nigeria any time soon.

An analysis of global oil trading rates on Monday showed that Brent crude traded at $35.61 per barrel as of 9.32am Central Standard Time.

Global oil figures showed that Brent Weighted Average in the past four days was higher than the commodity’s rate on Monday, as the BWA was put at $36.32 per barrel.

This represented a 2.34 per cent rise in price, indicating a positive movement in the commodity’s cost as more countries begin a gradual relaxing of the COVID-19 lockdown across the globe.

Century old car rental firm Hertz Global Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday after its business was destroyed during the coronavirus pandemic and talks with creditors failed to result in much needed relief.

According to court records, Hertz’s board earlier in the day approved the company seeking Chapter 11 protection in a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. The company however said Its international operating regions including Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not included in the U.S. proceedings.

A large portion of Hertz’s revenue comes from car rentals at airports, which have all but evaporated as potential customers eschew plane travel.

Hong Kong shares extended losses and a gauge of Asian stocks was largely subdued on Monday, after China’s move to impose a new security law on Hong Kong heightened concerns about the future stability of the city and global trade prospects.

Hong Kong’s HSI index fell 0.4% after sinking 5.5% on Friday, when Beijing proposed the new security legislation that sparked protests across the island over the weekend.

The broader MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.3% higher on thin volume, with South Korea, Australia and New Zealand all trading higher.

E-minis for S&P500 were 0.5% firmer, while the dollar edged up helped by rising risk aversion.

Chief market strategist at CMC Markets, Michael McCarthy said News flow has been pretty negative, particularly out of Beijing and Washington, but they might be seeing some inter-regional switching into those markets that are less likely to be affected by the dispute.

The White House has announced a ban on travel to the United States from Brazil due to the spread of coronavirus in Latin America's hardest-hit country.

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement on Sunday evening that the ban applies to all foreign nationals who have been in Brazil in the 14 days before heading to the US.

McEnany cast it as a move by US President Donald Trump to protect the country. Trump warned last week that he was considering restrictions on Brazil.

The president has already banned travel from the United Kingdom, Europe and China, all of which have been hit hard by the virus.

Qatar is turning to technology to help contain the coronavirus.

Although the country has only seen 23 confirmed deaths to date, its infection rate remains stubbornly high. More than 40,000 people have been infected amid a population of roughly 2.8 million.

The new Ehteraz app is seen by government officials as the latest salvo in its attempts to curb the transmission of the virus.

Starting late last week, citizens and residents have been required to have the Ehteraz contact-tracing app installed on mobile devices when leaving their homes, allowing the government to track if the user has been in touch with an infected person.

Not having the app installed could lead potentially to a maximum fine of $55,000 or three years in prison.

The UK government has indicated it is prepared to rescue large British companies severely affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The Treasury said last resort support could be made available if a firm's failure would disproportionately harm the UK economy.

The move follows indications that a number of big firms are seeking government help to survive the crisis.

These include Jaguar Land Rover, which is in talks to secure a £1bn loan.

The government has already put in place various initiatives to help companies weather the pandemic, including loan programmes, deferring of tax payments and the furlough scheme, which allows workers to receive 80% of their salary paid by the government.

According to latest figures, eight million workers are covered by the furlough scheme.

However, concern is growing that some big firms are still in difficulties even after making use of these options.

Video meetings have become hugely important as the world adapts to the new normal of the pandemic.

Zoom has become the app of choice for millions, overshadowing rival products from much larger companies such as Microsoft and Google.

But the firm is now facing major challenges from some of China's biggest technology companies.

Beijing temporarily blocked the international version of Zoom in September, leaving the market wide open to local players, including Alibaba's DingTalk and Tencent-backed VooV.

Since then two big Chinese video conferencing apps have significantly increased the size and reach of their services.

Workers at China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) mine in Democratic Republic of Congo ended a one-day strike on Sunday after agreeing a compromise with management over compensation for working in isolation for two months due to COVID-19.

The Chinese mining firm placed the TFM copper and cobalt mine in isolation from March 24 to try to protect the site from the coronavirus. Essential staff were ordered to stay on site and forbidden any contact with the outside world.

Samsoni told Reuters that a compromise was found, though the question of rotation of workers remains to be settled, because those who have worked nearly two months need to see their families.

A document dated May 23 seen by Reuters listed TFM employees’ demands, including an extra $100 a day to compensate for working in isolation.