According to New Zealand's Finance Minister, the economy is doing better than expected mainly due to the country's early economic and health response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The economy is doing better than expected and is more open than anywhere else in the world,” he said during a news conference,"However, good progress in New Zealand is contrasted with the situation in the rest of the world," he added.

The minister announced that the government is setting aside a $9.16 billion dollars package in the event that there is a second wave of Covid-19 infections, adding that this amount is not going to be spent before the elections. While saying that is not possible to predict what is going to happen, he highlighted that it's important to be cautious and to be prepared for the worst, therefore the government is not going to spend funds if it's not needed.

At the moment, there are 1,554 confirmed cases in New Zealand as well as a death toll of 22. The country's performance in terms of containing the advance of the pandemic has been remarkable, considering that some western countries are already reporting a peak in the number of infections. Around the world, there are 14,646,707 confirmed cases as well as a death toll of 608,978, the United States leads in the number of infections with 3,898,550 confirmed coronavirus cases and a death toll of 143,289.

By 7:36 GMT the New Zealand Dollar remained almost steady against the US dollar, advancing 0.02 percent hitting the 0.6555 level.

European Union Leaders Continue With Talks Regarding Stimulus Package

The European Union leaders are currently meeting to see if they can agree on a coronavirus stimulus package. At the moment they have not been successful, though it seems that they're making progress in this regard.

The European Council President, Charles Michel said that his biggest hope is reaching an agreement before the deadline ends, which he considers accomplishing mission impossible.

Apparently there is a strong disagreement between the northern countries and the rest regarding the size of the stimulus package and on whether it should be distributed as grants or repayable loans. The last attempt to reach an agreement failed, as the northern countries rejected a plan that would provide around 400 billion euros in grants, which is considerably higher than the northern countries limit of 350 billion euros.

The current situation boosts the fears regarding the future of the bloc, as a failure to reach an agreement could put its integrity and viability into question.

The Eurozone economy has been heavily affected by the advance of the coronavirus outbreak. The European Commission foresees an 8.7 percent contraction and expects not to see a complete rebound next year, though the Gross Domestic Product will expand by 6.1 percent in 2021 according to its estimations.

Recently the European Central Bank decided to leave the interest rates unchanged at -0.5 percent, announcing that it will continue with its pandemic emergency purchase program which amounts to 1.35 trillion euros.

On its announcement, the bank's President, Christine Lagarde highlighted that the bank will do whatever it is on its reach to aid the Eurozone economy on its recovery, remarking that an “ambitious and coordinated'' fiscal effort remains critical.

"It is important for the European leaders to quickly agree on an ambitious package,'' commented Lagarde.

By 7:36 GMT the Euro advanced by 0.15 percent against the US dollar, hitting the 1.1444 level.