The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have already developed contingency plans to be able to provide funding to the global fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19).
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said that the institutions are willing to lend capital should any state government requests for assistance.
“We have various financial instruments that could be used to support countries with balance of payment problems that arise from epidemics or natural disasters,” he said.
Rice added that the Washington-based monetary cooperation also maintains its strong support to China as it grapples in containing the virus that has now infected more than 83,000 individuals across the globe, leaving nearly 3,000 killed.
The coronavirus continues to rock the global economy as major productions and businesses shatter or operate at limited capacity, travel bans get impose, and even schools are forced to close.
Reports said that World’s stock markets are currently bracing themselves for the worst week since the global financial crisis in 2008. The new COVID-19 cases have likewise shaken asset values in Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Analysts say that the shared commitment of IMF and the World Bank will help the affected countries to bring desperately-needed resources to combat the virus impacts as well as to save their economies.
The lenders have previously mobilized huge funds to scale up support for the world’s response to the Ebola epidemic.
