The senior official said he is “very carefully” monitoring the situation to prevent any possible economic impact.
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The president of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, spoke Wednesday at a press conference in Washington about the possible economic threat that the current outbreak of coronavirus can represent, which has already claimed 170 lives in China.
He claimed that the coronavirus could affect the Chinese economy, but that it is too early to judge what impact it would have on the United States.
“We’re monitoring the situation very carefully. Clearly there will be implications, at least in the short term, for Chinese production, “said Powell, quoted by Bloomberg, and clarified that” uncertainties about the forecast “of global economic growth persist. He also noted that these include the coronavirus, although he said it is still very uncertain how far it will extend and what the economic effects will be for China, its trading partners and the whole world.
“There is likely to be some interruption in the activity [económica] in China, and possibly worldwide, due to the spread of the virus to date, in relation to travel restrictions and business closures, “Powell said.
The number of confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has already reached 7,711. So far it is known of confirmed patients in 16 countries, apart from China. Several global airlines have proceeded to suspend their flights to cities in that country, a measure attributed to security reasons and a drastic decrease in demand.
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