Outbreaks in other countries and financial market gyrations could also make consumers and firms wary of Chinese goods, just as the economy is getting back to work, they said. The coronavirus, which has infected 250,000 people and killed more than 10,000, has wreaked havoc on the global economy. In China, the slowdown in the first quarter will be significant, leaving a deep mark on the full year, the IMF said.
“What started as a series of sudden stops in economic activity, quickly cascaded through the economy and morphed into a full-blown shock simultaneously impeding supply and demand,” the IMF blog said, citing very weak industrial production and retail sales data in January and February.
