San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said overnight that the phased reopening of economy “by definition translates to a slow recovery as we put toes in the water, see if the virus flares up when we go back to some economic activity.” “If it doesn’t, we can gain some momentum, people will be more confident; but if it does then people are going to be more cautious and that will slow the recovery even further,” she added. “Whichever scenario occurs, this is going to be a slow recovery and not a sharp rebound.” Also, under most scenarios “the economy is going to need more support, in all likelihood.”
Separately, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Q2 is expected to be “pretty bad”. But with economy reopened safely, next year “we’ll be back to having a quick economy”. He added that President Donald Trump was open to more fiscal spending. However, “we’re not in a rush to do that this week or next week. We’re going to take our time.”
