SME Times News Bureau | 03 Mar, 2020
In a bid to calm the Indian financial markets the Reserve Bank of India
on Tuesday said that it is ready to take "appropriate actions" to
ensure the orderly functioning of financial markets.
Central banks across the world -- most notably the Federal Reserve -- have
indicated that they will take policy actions to counter the detrimental impact
of the coronavirus outbreak on businesses and global trade.
In a statement the RBI said: "The Reserve Bank of India is monitoring
global and domestic developments closely and continuously and stands ready to
take appropriate actions to ensure the orderly functioning of financial
markets, maintain market confidence and preserve
financial stability."
Globally, financial markets have been experiencing considerable volatility,
with the spread of the coronavirus triggering risk-off sentiments and flights
to safe haven. Spillovers to financial markets in India have largely been
contained, RBI said.
Earlier European Central Bank had said that it is ready to take etargeted'
action to address the economic impact of the outbreak while the US Federal
Reserve last week said that it would use its tools and "act as appropriate
to support the economy (sic.)".
Global central banks have stepped in to calm financial markets after the last
trading week ending Friday proved to be one of the worst since the 2008 global
financial crises.
The US main index Dow Jones had fallen over 1,000 points a number of times
while benchmark Sensex lost over 3,000 points in the last seven days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the coronavirus outbreak has
reached a "decisive point" and has "pandemic potential" as
the toll in China increased to above 2,900.
With the threat of COVID-19 looming large, the government has tightened the
entry conditions for the nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan with
immediate effect.
As per the revised travel advisory issued on Tuesday by the Union Health
Ministry, new travellers from these countries will have to apply for new visas.