Paris (AFP)
The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, estimated Wednesday that the spread of the new Chinese coronavirus brought a "new dose of uncertainty" to the economic growth.
As the threat of a US-China trade war appears to have subsided, "the coronavirus adds a new dose of uncertainty," she said at a daily conference in Paris. The echoes.
This statement marks a change from the fairly optimistic tone on the economic outlook for the eurozone adopted in January by the Frenchwoman after the last ECB monetary policy meeting.
Nevertheless, the former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sought to reassure and argued that the policy of the ECB, wanting to keep interest rates low and resumed since November its asset purchases on the market, "acts as an effective automatic stabilizer" to support the euro area.
The President of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, told him a week ago that the latter "is closely monitoring" the epidemic linked to the new virus.
It has killed nearly 500 people to date and infected more than 24,000 people in mainland China, and it has spread to more than 20 countries.
"There will clearly be at least short-term implications for Chinese production," said Powell, with ripple effects for other economies.
© 2020 AFP