IMF chief hopes for global policy response to mitigate coronavirus impact

The International Monetary Fund hopes governments and central banks will work on a response to the coronavirus outbreak once the economic impact becomes clear, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Georgieva said the next few weeks would be crucial to build up a "bottom-up" picture of the impact of the virus in China and worldwide.

"So then we can agree on synchronised, or even better, coordinated measures to protect the world economy from a more serious shock," Georgieva told delegates. "Can we do it? Yes. Are we going to do it? I actually think that we will."