China's central bank expects Coronavirus to disrupt economy in 1st quarter

The People's Bank of China is closely watching the impact of the outbreak on the economy, and is preparing policy reserves to offset the pressure, Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng said

China's economy could be disrupted in the first quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak, but it is expected to recover once the virus is brought under control, a vice governor of the central bank said on Friday.

The People's Bank of China is closely watching the impact of the outbreak on the economy, and is preparing policy reserves to offset the pressure, Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng told a news briefing on Friday.

Analysts believe China's first-quarter economic growth could slow sharply by 2 percentage points or more from 6% in the last quarter, but could rebound sharply if the outbreak peaks soon,