World’s finance chiefs open taps for virus fightback
After a fortnight of carnage on global markets, Europe is under pressure to join the US and Asia in drastic action on spending and interest rates to confront the coronavirus crisis.
Investors are looking to a meeting of the European Central Bank next week for reassurance that monetary policymakers have a grip on the epidemic's deepening impact on companies and the economy at large.
But an emergency rate cut this week by the US Federal Reserve did nothing to stem market losses. And analysts say there is a limit to what central banks can do after years of easy-money policies since the 2007-08 financial crisis.
"To be blunt, no fiscal or monetary easing could have the same impact as a vaccine against COVID-19," ING economists said in a note.
As governments also step up budgetary interventions following a G7 promise of action, AFP surveys some of the policy responses around the world this week: - NORTH
US lawmakers on Thursday passed an $8.3 billion spending bill to combat the coronavirus, as the number of cases surged in the country's northwest and deaths reached double figures. The Fed's policy-setting committee on Tuesday slashed its key interest rate by a half point to a range of 1.0-1.25 percent -- its first inter-meeting cut since late 2008.
Canada's central bank also cut its key lending rate by 50 basis points this week.
The World Bank says it has $12 billion available to help countries respond to the threat, especially the poorest and least equipped nations.
The International Monetary Fund is making $50 billion in aid available for such countries, warning that global growth could now slip below last year's 2.9 percent.
The epidemic "is no longer a regional issue, it is a global problem calling for global response", IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday.
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