IMF’s Georgieva urges coordinated, global fiscal response to pandemic

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks at a press briefing on COVID-19 in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2020. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP)

WASHINGTON, DC (AFP) — Global governments must work together to provide massive spending as in the 2008 financial crisis to help the economy withstand the damage from the coronavirus pandemic, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Monday.

And emerging markets are facing a massive outflow of cash, and will need support as well, she said in a blog post.

Beyond individual country actions so far, she said, “as the virus spreads, the case for a coordinated and synchronized global fiscal stimulus is becoming stronger by the hour.”

Meanwhile, investors have pulled nearly $42 billion from emerging markets since the beginning of the crisis, “the largest outflow they have ever recorded,” she said, calling on major central banks to provide support to reduce financial stresses.