Thursday 9th July 2020

The pound was helped a little today by the Chancellor’s next step in the country’s stimulus package. Phil Dobbie talks to NAB’s David de Garis about the plan, which includes a sales tax cut for the hospitality and travel industry and, curiously, the government going halves on lunch if you eat out in the first half of the week, through August. If that sounds impractical, trying to break the peg of the Hong Kong dollar to the US dollar is an idea floated that is likely to fall into the too hard basket. Back home, the cabinet meets on Friday to look at the next steps in Australia. Meanwhile stocks continue to rise, even as COVID cases increase in the US.