WASHINGTON: China is a large economy with the resources and the resolve to effectively meet the challenge of the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
Commenting on the Chinese government’s response to the recent outbreak, Gerry Rice, director of the IMF’s communications department, told a press briefing that Chinese authorities are clearly “taking this very seriously.”
It is very helpful that China is “working closely with the World Health Organization and others,” and “sharing information about the disease and the measures taken,” Rice noted.
Rice said the “right priority” is getting help to the people who have been affected, including increasing spending on public health services and prevention to help address and contain the outbreak, adding “China has the fiscal space to act if needed.”
The IMF spokesperson also noted that it is “too early to quantify” in any precise way the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“The economic impact will depend very much on the behavior of the illness itself, the virus. – The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
