US Central Bank 'Carefully Monitoring' China's Coronavirus Crisis - Chairman

US Central Bank 'Carefully Monitoring' China's Coronavirus Crisis - Chairman

The Federal Reserve is "carefully monitoring" the coronavirus crisis in China and the economic impact it would potentially have on the United States and the world, Jay Powell, chairman of the US central bank, said

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2020) The Federal Reserve is "carefully monitoring" the coronavirus crisis in China and the economic impact it would potentially have on the United States and the world, Jay Powell, chairman of the US central bank, said.

"We are very carefully monitoring the situation," Powell told a news conference on Wednesday. "There is likely to be some disruption to activity in China, and possibly globally, based on the spread of the virus to date, and the travel restrictions and business closures that have already been imposed."

But Powell also said the crisis was in its early stages and the Fed was "very uncertain about how far it will spread, and what the macroeconomic effects will be to China, its immediate trading partners and neighbors around the world."

The novela coronavirus has so far killed more than 130 people and infected over 6,000 in China.

Zhang Ming, a government economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said on Wednesday that China's economic growth may drop to 5 percent or even lower this year due to the viral outbreak.

Several international airlines including Air France, Air Canada and American Airlines on Wednesday suspended flights to China, while Toyota and temporarily halted production in the country.

The World Health Organization is, meanwhile, considering whether to designate the outbreak as a matter of global concern after previously calling it only an "emergency in China."