Editor's note: This is the fourteenth article in the COVID-19 Global Roundup series. Here is the previous one.

As the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has pungently magnified, policymakers and government leaders have taken a wide range of approaches to tackle it. Here is a list of how some of the world's biggest economies and economic blocs have reacted.

European Central Bank

The ECB will provide banks with loans at a rate as low as minus 0.75%, below the -0.5% deposit rate, and increase bond purchases by 120 billion euros this year with a focus on corporate debt. The ECB's bank supervisory arm will let eurozone banks fall short of some key capital and cash requirements to keep credit flowing to the economy.

But unlike its U.S. and UK counterparts, the ECB held back on cutting rates and instead pointed the finger at eurozone governments, who have been slow in ramping up spending.

Germany

Berlin has pledged unlimited liquidity assistance to businesses hit by the coronavirus in what finance minister Olaf Scholz described as a big "bazooka" to counter any impact of the coronavirus on the eurozone's largest economy.

The "unprecedented" cash offer will be subject to "no upper limit." Meanwhile, companies will also be allowed to delay tax payments. 

As the Federal Reserve also promised to supply trillions of dollars of short-term loans to ease the much-anticipated disruptions in the largest and most liquid government debt market, it intensified its efforts to buy U.S. Treasuries. 

The state development bank (KfW) is expected to substantially boost its capacity to provide loans for German companies and expand corporate access to these loans while accelerating and simplifying loan application procedures. It will be realized by raising KfW's financial framework of 460 billion euros ($511 billion), a ration guaranteed by the current federal budget, to 550 billion euros ($612 billion). 

The federal parliament has also rushed out a law to extend state support for companies that put their employees on reduced hours. 

This series of economic measures marked the biggest post-war aid package and a dramatic turn in Germany's reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic as Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative coalition was previously split over whether Germany should rush out a fiscal stimulus package to counter any impact of the coronavirus on Europe's largest economy.

The moves are also believed to be more drastic than any other European country. 

Britain

Britain launched a 30 billion-pound ($39 billion) economic stimulus plan just hours after the Bank of England slashed interest rates, a double-barreled package aimed at warding off the risk of a coronavirus recession.

As Chancellor of Exchequer Rushi Sunak revealed the Conservative government's first Budget since the general election, he also laid out emergency measures to support the National Health Service and small businesses. 

"Taken together, the extraordinary measures I have set out today represent 7 billion pounds ($8.6 billion) to support the self-employed, businesses and vulnerable people. To support the NHS and other public services, I am also setting aside today a 5-billion-pound ($6.1 billion) emergency response fund and I will go further if necessary," the Chancellor said. "Those measures are on top of plans which provide an additional fiscal loosening of 18 billion pounds ($22 billion) to support the economy this year."

Sunak said the government would be extending statutory sick pay to all people who stay off work to enter quarantine and a fund worth around 2 billion would be allocated to small businesses to compensate for mandatory sick pay. 

Downing Street has also taken the step of abolishing business rates for tens of thousands of small and medium-sized which are likely to be damaged by a loss of footfall during the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, local authorities would also have access to a 500-million-pound ($615 million) "hardship fund" recently created by the UK government. 

Italy

Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, has been the most sluggish in the 19-nation bloc since the start of the monetary union. It shrank by nine percent in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and has recovered only about half of that since then. 

Last week, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pledged to spend 25 billion euros ($28 billion), about 1.4 percent of GDP, on stimulus measures to shield the economy from Europe's worst outbreak of the coronavirus. The entire package is to be approved by the cabinet in phases. 

As Italy is experiencing a nationwide lockdown, the government has doubled the amount it plans to spend on tackling its coronavirus outbreak to 7.5 billion euros ($8.4 billion) and is raising this year's deficit goal to 2.5 percent of national output from the current 2.2 percent target.

A state guarantee fund for small and medium enterprises will be boosted by 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will be allowed to guarantee at least 10 billion euros in loans through a 500-million-euro Treasury fund.

Payments on mortgages will be suspended across the whole of Italy and Italy's banking lobby ABI said lenders would offer debt moratoriums to small firms and households grappling with the economic fallout from the virus.

France

The government is allowing companies to suspend payments of some social charges and taxes and is activating state-subsidized short-time work schemes. It has ordered the Bpifrance state investment bank to guarantee loans needed to overcome short-term cash flow problems.

Paris has also allowed companies to declare force majeure due to the outbreak if they cannot honor a contract with the public sector and is putting pressure on big companies to show similar leniency with subcontractors.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire promised 'tens of billions of euros' to help businesses deal with the country's coronavirus crisis. "No employee will lose a cent," he said.

"The state will bear the financial burden of the people who have to stay home," President Emmanuel Macron said after he had called for "everyone who could to work from home" as part of the country's stringent strategy to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The European Union

European Union leaders have so far failed to agree radical measures to tackle the crisis. But European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet on Thursday that Brussels was working on responses including a "package to prop up the EU economy."

The commission will additionally mobilize 37 billion euros ($41 billion) under its regional funding programs to stem the impact of COVID-19.

EU authorities have also intervened in the region's stock and bond markets with a series of measures aimed at averting significant fluctuation in prices. 

United States

The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed rates back to near zero, restarted bond buying and launched other measures from its crisis-era toolkit, along with other central banks, to put the floor under a rapidly disintegrating global economy assailed by efforts to contain the escalating coronavirus pandemic.

The Fed also encouraged banks to use the trillions of dollars in equity and liquid assets built up as capital buffers since the financial crisis to lend to businesses and households whose balance sheets and lives have been upended by the virus.

The central banks of the United States, the eurozone, Canada, Britain, Japan and Switzerland agreed on Sunday to offer three months of credit in U.S. dollars on a regular basis and at a rate cheaper than usual.

The U.S. Treasury Department will defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted, aiming to provide more than 200 billion dollars of additional liquidity to the economy.

The Small Business Administration will also provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus.

Earlier, Trump signed an 8.3-billion-dollar emergency spending bill to combat the spread of the virus and develop vaccines for the highly contagious disease.

Australia

Australia is considering a second round of economic stimulus after it put forward a package valued at 17.6 billion Australian dollars (about 11.4 billion U.S. dollars) to stave off an economic recession caused by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The package unveiled last week includes cash payments for small businesses and welfare recipients to counter the impact of the disease.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the package would provide an immediate stimulus to Australia's economy. Up to 6.5 million people – nearly a quarter of the country's population – on government benefits, including pensioners, the unemployed and family tax benefits, will receive one-off payments of 750 Australian dollars each ($485).

India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to infuse fresh cash liquidity into the system through a second round of long-term repo operations (LTRO), government officials told Reuters, amid fears that the coronavirus outbreak will derail any revival of economic growth.

The RBI has said it stands ready to act to maintain market confidence and preserve financial stability.

The government is, meanwhile, pushing state-run banks to approve new loans amounting to 500-600 billion rupees by the end of March, according to government sources.

Canada

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on March 9 that the government was "looking at taking some initiatives this week," as Canada reported its first coronavirus death, with a steep decline in oil prices expected to hit the world's fourth-largest crude producer hard.

The Bank of Canada lowered its benchmark overnight rate to 1.25% from 1.75% in response to the epidemic, prompting money markets to price in a better-than-even chance of another reduction next month. The last time it cut by 50 basis points was in 2009 during the financial crisis.

South Korea

The government announced a stimulus package of 11.7 trillion won ($9.8 billion) to cushion the impact of the largest outbreak of coronavirus outside China. An additional 10.3 trillion won in treasury bonds will be issued this year to fund the extra budget.

Seoul has also dramatically tightened rules on short-selling for three months. Starting March 11, stocks with a sudden and abnormal increase in short-selling transactions will be suspended from further short-selling for 10 days.

Japan

Japan unveiled a second package of measures worth about 4 billion dollars in spending to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, focusing on support to small and mid-sized firms, as concerns mount about risks to the fragile economy.

The package was intended to boost growth and stave off corporate bankruptcies as the outbreak has dealt a serious blow to Japan's tourism sector.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will set aside 270 billion yen ($2.5 billion) from this fiscal year's budget reserve to fund the package.

Separately, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has pledged to pump more liquidity into markets and step up asset buying.

(With input from agencies)