The Day at a Glance | August 4 2020

The Top

· Negotiations continue regarding a fiscal package in the US.

· China will take action against Washington if TikTok`s forced sale is carried out, according to the local press.

· Argentina reaches a $65 billion dollar debt restructuring agreement with creditors.

· Economic indicators: Durable goods orders in the US will be published (9.2% prev.) as well as data concerning API crude oil inventories (-6.82M prev.).

Economic environment

President Donald Trump is considering signing an executive order that will allow the extension of aid provided to US citizens because of the pandemic, after negotiations between Democrats and Republicans were unsuccessful in recent days. The White House is exploring actions that would help guarantee the extension of the assistance given to US citizens without intervention from Congress, such as the suspension of the payroll tax or extending the temporary moratorium to avoid people being evicted from their homes due to them falling behind on rent payments. Speaker of the House of Representatives and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi will meet with Secretary Treasury Steven Mnuchin today, to seek common ground that will help design an agreement. Both sides seem to want to solve the problem and are trying to reconcile a 3.5 billion dollar Democratic proposal and a 1 billion dollar Republican proposal – however, there are still important differences regarding many of the package`s details. Among the Democrats` priorities that are not being met is the allocation of more resources to local and state governments and funds for the US Postal Service. Frictions even occur within the Republican party as 20 legislators do not agree with their own party`s proposal.