Washington (AFP)
The central bankers and finance ministers of the G7 will meet on Tuesday by telephone to coordinate their action faced with the impact of the new coronavirus on global growth, we learned from the US Department of the Treasury.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell "will host a meeting with their G7 counterparts on Tuesday morning," Washington time, a spokeswoman for AFP said on Monday. word of the Treasury.
"We will have a meeting this week over the phone - because we must avoid traveling too much - of the G7 ministers to coordinate their responses," French Minister Bruno Le Maire, who spoke, said on France 2 on Monday. the day before with Steven Mnuchin.
"We will also have a meeting of finance ministers from the eurozone to coordinate our responses," he added. "There will be concerted action," he said. The president of the Eurogroup, the Portuguese Mario Centeno announced, on his Twitter account, that the meeting would take place on Wednesday by phone.
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde belatedly added her voice to the other major central banks, indicating that she was "ready to take the appropriate measures". On the British side, the Minister of Finance also said he was "ready to announce the future support that will be necessary".
The meeting of the G7 will take place Tuesday at 12:00 GMT, and that of the Eurogroup will be held Wednesday at 13:00 GMT, said the French Ministry of Economy.
This mobilization of finance ministers comes at a time when global growth, already weakened by the trade war, has been hit hard by the slowdown in the Chinese economy and the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the economy.
Last week, the New Work Stock Exchange experienced its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.
The number of cases of new coronavirus in the world amounted to 90,151, including 3,083 deaths, in 73 countries and territories, according to a report established by AFP from official sources Monday at 17:00 GMT.
UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement on Monday that the UK is "well prepared for this global threat" and "stands ready to announce further support that will be needed".
US President Donald Trump, who is running for a second term in the White House, admitted on Wednesday that the epidemic would undoubtedly prevent American growth from reaching 3% in 2020, which is one of his main campaign arguments .
In France, Bruno Le Maire also expects consequences for the economy greater than previously expected, without giving a more precise estimate.
The government has so far forecast growth of 1.3% for this year, and Mr. Le Maire had previously estimated the negative impact of the coronavirus at 0.1 point.
The United States this year chairs the group of the seven richest countries on the planet, Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
© 2020 AFP