Covid-19 crisis a major threat to stability of global financial system: IMF

Policymakers have already taken "decisive" fiscal and monetary policy steps to soften the impact of the pandemic, the IMF said

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Tuesday that the novel coronavirus outbreak has exposed "cracks" in the global financial system and "will likely" see banks suffer both credit losses and market losses that will test their reserves.

The world's largest multilateral lender cautioned that while banks have built up strong capital and liquidity buffers since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the potential for a long and severe downturn will put those buffers to the test.

"This crisis presents a very serious threat to the stability of the global financial system," the IMF wrote in its Global Financial Stability Report ahead of its