Since December, almost two-thirds of OECD countries have increased the stringency of measures to protect public health in response to the pandemic.2 The measures taken have triggered an extraordinary economic shock. High frequency indicators suggest that the restrictions have had an important impact on activity, particularly consumer spending3 We are seeing the largest peacetime global contraction since the Great Depression.
The economic policy response to the pandemic has had two strands. The rst, and most important, has been the scal policy response with actions to contain, cushion, and counteract the impact on households and rms. The second strand has seen other policymakers respond with a range of monetary, macro and micro prudential actions to prevent ampli cation of the shock by the nancial system.