CHINA’S economy will take a big hit in the first quarter due to widespread work stoppages caused by the fast-spreading coronavirus, but should recover rapidly unless the outbreak worsens again, a Chinese official said Friday. The Washington-based official, who asked not to be named, said China had already taken a series of economic measures to respond to the outbreak, and would stick to a flexible monetary policy as it sought to rapidly restore normal production across the country. “It’s going to have a big impact in the first quarter of the year, but with the restoration of economic orders, we hope the situation should be much better from the second quarter,” the official said. “If the situation does not get worse ... I believe the Chinese economy is going to recover very rapidly.” The outbreak has slowed in China, with 327 new cases reported Friday, the lowest since Jan. 23, bringing the total in the country to 78,800 cases and almost 2,800 deaths. However, the disease is now spreading across the globe, with the first case reported in Nigeria on Friday and 888 people infected in Italy. The Chinese official said the coronavirus outbreak could cause “a dramatic fall” in the global economy if it spread to a wide range of countries, but gave no specific forecasts. (SD-Agencies) |