U.S. Economic News
August 31, 2020
U.S. News
The Financial Times reports that the commercial property financing industry is under severe stress as the coronavirus pandemic alters the way people work and travel. While the price of debt in the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) has improved off March lows, significant weakness remains as almost a quarter of all hotel loans bundled into CMBS and around 15% of retail loans are at least 30 days delinquent. FT
Nick Timiraos writes for the Wall Street Journal that despite the Fed’s announcement last week of a new policy framework around inflation and unemployment, the new framework may have only a modest impact on promoting the economic recovery. The Fed has indicated they will rely largely on asset purchases and forward guidance as their primary policy tools, but analysts question how effective these tools are likely to be given that long-term interest rates are already low. WSJ