Australia bids for $6.6 billion market stimulus to cushion virus impact

An Australian newspaper reported on Monday that the government is launching to implement monetary measures by injecting A$10 billion ($6.6 billion) in circulation to battle the economic impact of the coronavirus spread.

“The details of our fiscal response are still being finalized and we will be working with the colleagues in coming days to conclude that,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Sky News. Frydenberg did not deny nor confirm the size or total amount of the proposed measures.

“We will be making a substantial fiscal response and the prime minister has foreshadowed that it’s about keeping businesses in businesses and Australians in job,” Frydenberg furthered.

The coronavirus, aside from killing 3,400 people across the globe, continues to negatively impact the markets by lowering the volume of consumer spending in the Australian economy. This has the potential to edge Australia on the verge of a recession that last devastated the country in almost 30 years.

The Australian government and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) forecast dropping 0.5 percentage points of economic growth in the first quarter of the year.

As of writing, the country has 74 reported cases of coronavirus with three casualties from the infectious disease.