OBELA Analysis

Pressure to reactivate GVCs to reduce the economic impact of COVID-19 is increasing, but a second wave of contagion has been seen in countries trying to return to normal.

The dilemma in the very short term is: recover the economy at a cost in human lives or continue with the isolation and risk a greater economic fall.

This note reflects on the conditions in the labour sector in advanced and emerging economies in the face of the virus; the role of the State in the face of the pandemic; the economic incentive to reactivate the economy and global value chains; a panorama of what is expected from the world economy.

The international commitments of the United Nations Agenda 2030 have forced governments to rethink public mobility policy around the world. The change in public transport systems to electric units has put on the table the importance of China as an exporter of these units and the demand for global oil demand in the long term.
Of the total number of electric buses in the world, 95% are in China. From 2011, the change of energy matrix is a public goal, becoming the main producer and consumer of electric vehicles in the world. In Latin America, the use of electric buses is still incipient.
 This energy shift will be the new impetus for the growth of the global economy in the 21st century. It will also be an issue of confrontation between the United States and China; and of Latin America with the United States.

The crisis over COVID-19 has hit the world economy as a whole. This note reviews the effects on the oil industry, the fall in the volume of world supply and demand, and the prices of crude oil quoted on international markets.

After the collapse of the oil price, a recovery in the energy sector will depend on the improvement in the price and the speed with which it is achieved. Prices are expected to remain low, and the sector is expected to suffer despite the market recovery.

In view of this negative environment in the industry, the possibility of greater investment in alternative energies and consequently a deepening of the change in the energy matrix must be envisaged.