March 4, 2020
PRESS OFFICER: Alistair Thomson
Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org
As Prepared for Delivery
The IMF is making available about $50 billion through its rapid-disbursing emergency financing facilities for low income and emerging market countries that could potentially seek support. Of this, $10 billion is available at zero interest for the poorest members through the Rapid Credit Facility.
Good morning! David Malpass and I got an early start today with a 7 am conference call of the IMFC—the IMF's governing body representing our 189 member states.
Before I go any further, let me express my deepest sympathies for all the suffering that the outbreak is causing.
We all recognize that the situation with the spread of the coronavirus is very serious and could well get worse. This affects us all.
I will start by setting out why I felt it was necessary to have this call:
What We Know
We know that the disease is spreading quickly. With over one-third of our membership affected directly, this is no longer a regional issue – it is a global problem calling for a global response.
We also know that it will eventually retreat, but we don’t know how fast this will happen.
We know that this shock is somewhat unusual as it affects significant elements of both supply and demand:
Experience suggests that about one-third of the economic losses from the disease will be direct costs: from loss of life, workplace closures, and quarantines. The remaining two-thirds will be indirect, reflecting a retrenchment in consumer confidence and business behavior and a tightening in financial markets.
The good news is that financial systems are more resilient than before the Global Financial Crisis. However, our biggest challenge right now is handling uncertainty.
Under any scenario, global growth in 2020 will drop below last year’s level. How far it will fall, and for how long, is difficult to predict, and would depend on the epidemic, but also on the timeliness and effectiveness of our actions.
This is particularly challenging for countries with weaker health systems and response capacity—calling for a global coordination mechanism to accelerate the recovery of demand and supply.
How to Respond at the Member Level
The number one priority in terms of fiscal response is ensuring front-line health-related spending to protect people’s wellbeing, take care of the sick, and slow the spread of the virus. I can’t emphasize enough the urgency of stepping up health-related measures—and the need to ensure the production of medical supplies so that supply is at par with demand.
Second, macro-financial policy actions may be required to tackle the supply and demand shocks that I mentioned above. The aim should be to stress “no regret” actions that shorten and soften the economic impact. They should be timely and targeted to the sectors, businesses and households hardest hit.
A generalized weakening in demand through confidence and spillover channels—including trade and tourism, commodity prices, and tighter financial conditions—would call for an additional policy response to support demand and ensure an adequate supply of credit.
Third, adequate liquidity will also be needed to offset financial stability risks.
In short: the situation is evolving rapidly and we should stand ready to provide a more forceful, coordinated response if conditions require it. Along these lines, I welcome the statement from the G7 yesterday that they are ready to cooperate further on timely and effective measures.
How the Fund Can Help
For our part, the Fund is ready to help its membership.
There are many members at risk, including those with weak health systems, inadequate policy space, commodity exporters exposed to terms-of-trade shocks, and others that are particularly vulnerable to spillovers.
I am particularly concerned about our low-income and more vulnerable members – these countries may see financing needs rise rapidly as the economic and human cost of the virus escalates.
Our staff are currently working on identifying vulnerable countries and estimating potential financing needs should the situation deteriorate further.
The Fund has resources available to support the membership:
In Short
Our united message to the public is:
Thank you again and now over to you, David.
