Lagarde Says Virus Not Yet at Stage Requiring ECB Response: FT

Christine Lagarde said the European Central Bank was monitoring the outbreak of coronavirus very carefully and said it was not yet at the stage where it would require a monetary policy response, the Financial Times reports on Thursday, citing an interview with the ECB president.

Lagarde said the ECB would have to determine whether coronavirus could become a “long-lasting shock” that would affect inflation. “But we are certainly not at that point yet,” Lagarde told the FT.