1. Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to address this edition of the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Credit Conference - the first to be held online. In many aspects, 2020 has certainly been a year of firsts. In recent years, much of the concern about a halt in global growth has stemmed from concerns about the possibility of a recession in the world's largest economy, concerns that the escalation of trade tensions would result in a large reduction in global trade and investment, as well as concerns about geopolitical developments. But until now, never has there been such widespread concern around a pandemic that would change so many aspects of our daily lives.
The COVID-19 outbreak has had major health, social and economic impacts, which have required sizeable adjustments to policy. Monetary policy, unsurprisingly, has also had to respond to this once-in-a-100-years event.