mo4ch:>Coronavirus: IMF provides $50bn to fight outbreak

Coronavirus: IMF provides $50bn to fight outbreak5 March 2020 Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionIMF managing director Kristalina GeorgievaThe International Monetary Fund has announced $50bn (£39bn) in funding for countries hit by the coronavirus.The organisation also warned that the outbreak had already pushed this year's global economic growth below last year's levels.The emergency measure came after the virus has spread rapidly outside China to more than 70 countries.This week governments and central banks around the world have taken action to ease the impact of the virus.The IMF said it is making the money available to help poor and middle-income countries with weak health systems respond to the epidemic. At the same time the fund said the spread of the coronavirus has erased expectations of stronger economic growth this year, and will push 2020 global output gains to their slowest rate since the financial crisis in 2008.But IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva wa…