Fed Cautiously Confident, Mnuchin Rebuffs, Virus Latest: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

Good morning Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• Federal Reserve policy makers sound cautiously confident they’ve got interest rates about right as they assess the fallout from the spreading coronavirus. What worries them though is their ability to rescue the U.S. economy should things go horribly wrong
• Meanwhile U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he sees no need to boost coordination between the government and the Federal Reserve, rebuffing investors who’ve called for more cooperation as central bankers run out of tools to counter the next recession
• The same debate is taking pace across the Atlantic, where European Central Bank officials are calling on governments to open the fiscal spigots in efforts to trim the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on economic growth
  • Still, the mood among German business hasn’t being dramatically shaken by the coronavirus outbreak, suggesting they see a short-term impact that won’t overly disrupt a pickup in 2019
• Virus worries and climate threats dominated the gathering of Group of 20 leaders in Riyadh, while globalization came under fire and there was more debate on how to coordinate globally on tax policy
• The global economic disruption caused by the coronavirus has prompted traders to load up on bets that central banks will have to ride to the rescue
• Chinese officials announced Monday that they were allowing non-local residents to leave Wuhan as the deadly virus spread further; here’s a virus update
• A deputy at China’s central bank still sees a ‘V-shaped’ recovery, and Chinese factories were urged to bring employees back to their floors; here’s the Bloomberg Economics take on how much China has returned to work
• The Bank of Korea convened an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the virus impact amid a surge in confirmed cases there; Bank of Japan’s chief says the central bank is prepared to act
• Finally, here’s a preview of the main events in the week ahead in the global economy

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss

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