Australia Treasury Secretary Kennedy: Coronavirus to cost Australian GDP “at least” 0.5% - The Guardian

Early Thursday morning in Asia, The Guardian came out with the news spotting comments from the Australian Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy.

Key quotes

We have undertaken a preliminary assessment of what the impact of COVID-19 might be in the March quarter, and at this stage, we expect the virus to detract at least a half of a percentage point from growth in the March quarter 2020.

Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy has updated Parliament on the economic impact of the coronavirus and the summer bushfires, saying the combined hit will be to see 0.7% slashed from economic growth in the first three months of the year.

FX implications

Following the news, the market’s risk-tone remain mostly upbeat, as portrayed by the USD/JPY pair’s positive stand around 107.60, but the AUD/USD weakens mildly to 0.6620.