Audio By Carbonatix
Group of Seven finance officials said on Tuesday they would take all possible steps to safeguard the global economy from the spreading coronavirus outbreak, with Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda promising a “good message”.
On a conference call, the group of rich nations’ finance ministers and central bank governors pledged actions including fiscal measures where appropriate to support the global economy, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said.
He said the desirable policy response would vary from country to country.
The global policymakers’ united front offset anxiety over the coronavirus’ rapid spread in dozens of countries and aided a recovery in world stocks and oil prices.
“This is a tug of war between hope and fear. Central banks are giving hopes with their potential stimulus,” said Vasu Menon, senior investment strategist at OCBC Bank Wealth Management.
“The question is what they will do? Monetary policy is already very loose and interest rates are very low.”
Global stocks suffered a rout last week on fears that the disruption to supply chains, factory output and global travel caused by the epidemic could deal a serious blow to a world economy trying to recover from the U.S.-China trade war.
The coronavirus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has spread fast around the world over the past week, with more new cases now appearing outside China than within.
There are more than 90,000 cases globally, with more than 80,000 of them in China, and infections appearing in 77 other countries and territories, with Ukraine the latest country to report its first case.
China’s death toll is 2,943 with more than 75 deaths elsewhere.
CONTAINMENT SUCCESS
New cases in China have been falling sharply, with 125 reported on Tuesday, thanks to its aggressive containment measures.
After what critics said was an initially hesitant response to the virus, China imposed sweeping restrictions, including suspensions of transport, sealing off communities, and extending a Lunar New Year holiday across the country.
Now China is increasingly concerned about the virus being brought back into the country by citizens returning from new hot spots elsewhere. Authorities on Tuesday asked overseas Chinese to reconsider or minimize their plans to travel home.
All travelers entering Beijing from South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy would have to be quarantined for 14 days, a city official said. Shanghai has introduced a similar order.
The most serious outbreak outside China is in South Korea where President Moon Jae-in declared war on the virus, ordering additional hospital beds and more masks as cases rose by 600 to nearly 5,000. Thirty-four people have died in South Korea.
In the United States, the virus is now believed to be present in at least four communities in the Pacific Northwest - two in northern California, one in Oregon and one in Washington state - and authorities there are having to go well beyond the quarantine of infected travelers and tracing of close contacts, which until now had been the response.
Six people have died in the Seattle outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists more than 90 cases across the United States, a large bulk of them patients repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise liner that had been quarantined in Japan.
Iran reported infections rising to 1,501, with 66 deaths, including a senior official.
The death toll in Italy jumped to 52 on Monday from 34 the day before and the total number of confirmed cases in Europe’s worst-affected country climbed past the 2,000 mark.
Germany reported 31 new infections, taking its tally to 188.
Latest Stories
-
Flooding in Accra: Over 30 Years of Doing Nothing
3 minutes -
TI Ghana, GIPC intensify media campaign against fronting in business sector
4 minutes -
“I suffered beatings, look at my marks” – Evacuated Ghanaian recounts alleged xenophobic attack in South Africa
24 minutes -
Afanyi Dadzie Writes: Xenophobia, illegal migration and the hard truths we must face as Ghanaians
31 minutes -
The NPP can only secure victory in 2028 with the right leadership choices at every level of the party
58 minutes -
When Memory Dies: South Africa’s Convenient Amnesia
1 hour -
MTN Ghana urges women to prioritise emotional wellness at Mmaa Nkomo event
2 hours -
We will always stand by Ghanaians everywhere — Chief of Staff assures evacuees from South Africa
2 hours -
“Don’t mess around with Ghanaians anywhere in the world” — Ablakwa warns
2 hours -
KetaFC alleges bias and interference in Volta Regional Middle League protest
2 hours -
Gov’t will always protect and support Ghanaians abroad – Ablakwa
2 hours -
“Don’t be depressed, have confidence” — Ablakwa encourages evacuees from South Africa
2 hours -
26 Ghanaian prisoners among first evacuees from South Africa — Ablakwa
2 hours -
Angry youth set properties ablaze after a shooting incident at Deti in Volta Region
3 hours -
GAUA-KNUST adopts a constitution, introduces electoral reforms
3 hours