Asia Factories, U.K. Confidence, Riksbank Challenge: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Monday, Europe. Here's the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the week:

Factory output across several Asian countries slumped to record lows in April, signaling a deeper contraction in the world's manufacturing hub even as China begins restarting some operations
U.K. business confidence slumped the most on record last quarter as financial leaders said they see no quick recovery from the coronavirus downturn. A shopkeeper knows why Britain's business rescue fell flat
Sweden's central bank may need to have some of its age-old laws changed if it's to act on a pledge to do “whatever it takes”
The trade agreement President Donald Trump signed with China has gone from a cornerstone of his re-election bid to a potential political liability as the pandemic sours their relationship
Italy's move to restart the country threatens to create a new divide: between businesses allowed to reopen and those that have to wait
Forecasting GDP in the midst of a once-a-century global pandemic is, it turns out, not easy to do, writes Tom Orlik. Bloomberg Economics' forecast for 2020 global growth has fallen from 3.3% before the outbreak, to -4% as lockdowns cratered activity
Even a calamity of disease, death and economic destruction afflicting the world all at once isn't enough to suppress the notion in some quarters that inflation could return with a vengeance
The U.K. risks failing to recruit the 50,000 customs agents the logistics industry says are needed before Britain's final parting with the European Union
Turkish inflation probably had its sharpest deceleration in months, as declines in oil prices and pandemic-hit demand made up for the damage from declines in the lira
Hong Kong is on course for a recession potentially worse than the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s, with the trade-dependent city expected to reveal that the slump deepened markedly
Here is a wrap of what's coming up in the world economy this week