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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - It is still too early to assess the impact
of the coronavirus outbreak on the European Union economy, the
bloc's economics commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday,
adding that the bloc's fiscal rules allow for more spending in
emergencies.
The epidemic, which first emerged in China, flared up in
northern Italy last week, increasing fears of a
larger-than-expected fallout on the European and global economy.
"An assessment and a serious forecast is not yet possible,"
Gentiloni told a news conference in Brussels, acknowledging that
there had already been "a partial materialization" of the
downside risks posed by the epidemic.
He added that more government spending to counter the worst
economic effects of emergencies was possible under EU fiscal
rules. The conditions for countries to use that leeway will be
assessed over the coming months, he said.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio; Editing
by Hugh Lawson)
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