16.03.2020
Chinese officials have reported a gradual decline in numbers of the infected, and in the death toll as well, amid the COVID-2019 pandemic. Despite claimed improvements within the nation’s healthcare, the Chinese economy apparently shows serious drops caused by the months-long spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
According to the first official data from Asian markets, China’s industrial production, investments and retail sector have shown a significant reduction in the first quarter of 2020, impacted by the coronavirus infection.
The market data displayed on Monday that China’s main industrial production index for January and February slumped by 13,5 percent – the most dramatic fall since the early 1990s.
The situation is exacerbated by the emergency actions of the United States that has recently seen the Federal Reserve cut of its benchmark interest rate for the US dollar to zero.
Overall, markets across the globe expect a significant slump starting Monday, as the oil prices continued to drop after the Fed announced an emergency measure to tackle the economic impact caused by the Chinese infection.
China remains a major oil consumer. As the coronavirus outbreak sparked in early December 2019, investors felt an upcoming uncertainty and started gradually to diversify their equities while Beijing saw a temporary shutdown of its factories across the nation.
Last week, Chinese authorities allowed selected entities to resume their work in the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan and Hubei province. While China gradually restores production, investors still reportedly fear that a complete return for global markets to pre-pandemic indicators could take months, if not years.
