The US Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates in an emergency move to protect the world’s largest economy from the coronavirus outbreak, ramping up the global response as the disease spreads.
In a dramatic intervention as the G7 group of wealthy nations promised action around the world to protect jobs and growth amid the unfolding crisis, the US central bank said it was cutting interest rates by half a percentage point to a target range of 1% to 1.25%.
Launching the emergency measure as a pre-emptive strike to protect the US economy after pressure from Donald Trump to act, the Fed warned: “The fundamentals of the US economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity.”
Jerome Powell, its chair, said: “Of course the ultimate solutions to this challenge will come from others, particularly health professionals. We can and will do our part, however, to keep the US economy strong as we meet this challenge.”
As the economic costs mount in a pivotal US election year, Trump said the Fed had not cut rates enough and should go further. Powell insisted the emergency move was not in response to the president’s pressure. “We are never going to consider any political considerations whatsoever,” he said.
Financial markets around the world initially rallied after the worst week for stocks since the 2008 crisis, in anticipation of a massive coordinated stimulus to protect the global economy. The FTSE 100 closed up around 1% at 6,718.20. However, Wall Street slumped following Monday’s rebound. The Dow closed 785 points lower on Tuesday, a loss of nearly 3%.
On a day of rapid developments in response to the escalating health crisis:
The G7 issued a statement saying wealthy nations would use “all appropriate policy tools” to tackle the economic fallout.
The UK government outlined contingency plans, including limits on police and fire service callouts.
Growing numbers of companies announced profit warnings and told staff to work from home.
Speaking on Tuesday morning before the emergency move from his transatlantic counterpart, Mark Carney said the Bank of England stood ready to cut rates if the British economy required.
In his final hearing before MPs on the Treasury committee before standing down on 15 March, when he will be replaced by Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s outgoing governor said the fallout in Britain could include an “economic shock that could prove large but will ultimately be temporary”.
“The Bank will take all necessary steps to support the UK economy and the financial system,” he added.
Carney said that lines of communication were open with other central banks, that the Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) met on Monday and that it was still “assessing the economic impacts and considering the policy implications of various different scenarios”.
The next MPC rate decision is due on 26 March, after Carney leaves. However, economists at the Japanese bank Nomura said they anticipated an emergency UK rate cut before the end of the week.
Threadneedle Street has limited room to cut borrowing costs with interest rates at 0.75%, among the lowest levels in its 325-year history. There are also growing expectations that the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will use next week’s budget to announce financial support to try to lessen the impact of Covid-19.
The coronavirus outbreak is causing widespread alarm. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned global growth could be cut in half.
UK banks are starting to offer emergency financing to businesses that are showing signs of strain. Barclays, RBS and Santander have sent messages to thousands of firms to check whether factory disruptions in China have put their supply chains and cash flow at risk.
Barclays has extended its first batch of overdrafts and short-term loans, while the Guardian understands RBS is contacting about 5,000 of its large and small business customers who may be exposed to disruption, offering them similar support.
Twitter told its staff to work from home in response to the outbreak. It has made remote working mandatory for employees in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea and said it was “strongly encouraging” its global workforce of 5,000 employees to do the same.
In the UK, the impact of the outbreak was reflected in company statements and updates on consumer behaviour. Kantar, the data company, said consumers were stockpiling hand sanitiser, with sales up 225% in February.
The British insurer Direct Line said it had received £1m of travel insurance claims relating to the outbreak. It will pay out for cancellation or curtailment of trips to places such as China, South Korea and northern Italy, if they were booked before the government advised against travel.
The product-testing company Intertek warned that temporary disruption to the supply chains of its clients in China would hit its 2020 performance, while Greggs said the coronavirus added a cloud of uncertainty to its future sales forecasts if shoppers stayed away from high streets.
The tour operator Tui also said it had suffered weaker bookings and set out plans to cut costs with a hiring freeze and postponing non-essential projects. After a plunge in its share value amid the coronavirus outbreak, the travel business is likely to be ejected from the FTSE 100 on Wednesday in the quarterly reshuffle of the index of leading UK company shares.
