G7 to coordinate on Covid-19

PARIS: Group of Seven finance ministers will hold a teleconference this week to coordinate their response to the coronavirus outbreak, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

Finance ministers need to ensure that their responses are “as coordinated as possible” in order to be effective, Le Maire said on France 2 television.

“There will be concerted action, ” Le Maire said, noting he spoke to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday.

Le Maire also said he would speak with European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde yesterday or today. — Bloomberg

“Central banks are independent but it is self-evident that everyone, whether it’s central banks or governments, should play the game of supporting the economy and businesses, ” Le Maire said.

Le Maire also said that the hit to French growth will be “much more significant” than he initially forecast when the outbreak was limited to China. Two weeks ago, the French minister had said growth would be 0.1 percentage points lower in 2020 because of the virus. Bloomberg