IMF monitors dev’t on coronavirus in ‘real time’

WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is monitoring developments on the coronavirus outbreak in “real time,” a spokesman said Thursday, adding that the economic hit depends on the duration of the epidemic.

“We at the IMF are monitoring this very closely, we’re looking at the economic indicators on a real-time basis,” said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice.

“If global supply chains were systematically affected or global financial markets were significantly impacted by increasing uncertainty, then obviously the impact would be greater,” Rice said, adding that the effects would be more severe if the disease spreads to other parts of Asia from China.

“We’re not at this point in a position to put any hard numbers around this,” Rice said. “That’s something that we would do in due course, but it’s just too early to do that.”

The IMF on Jan. 20 projected the global economy would grow by 3.3 percent in 2020, above the 2.9 percent level last year, due in part to an easing in US-China trade tensions.

But the IMF warned that better growth depended on avoiding another flare-up in these tensions. (AFP)