It is too early for the European Central Bank to assess whether it needs to respond to the coronavirus epidemic with policy, even if the epidemic presents a risk to growth, Irish central bank chief Gabriel Makhlouf said on Wednesday.

"I still think it is too early to come to a view on what we at the European Central Bank should do about coronavirus," he told a conference in Berlin, adding that all attention should be focused on supporting the health system.

"Right now, other than paying attention, I am not sure we have to rush to action," Makhlouf, who sits on the ECB's rate-setting Governing Council said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie