The Trump administration is considering a range of economic measures to prevent the growing coronavirus emergency from sparking a financial slowdown after a week of market turmoil but is not close to any major announcements, according to a senior adviser.
Global uncertainty about the extent of the health crisis has sent markets into free fall for the past week.
On Friday, President Trump called for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, and the Washington Post reported that targeted tax cuts were being floated by officials as a means to keep money flowing.
Another option is believed to include suspending tariffs on China.
Both present problems, not least that any tax package would need to be negotiated with Congress, making it a more likely candidate for a second-term Trump project than an emergency fillip in a time of need.
Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow said conversations were continuing on how best to respond.
“There is nothing definite I can report. There’s a lot of conversations in and out of the Oval Office,” he said when asked whether the president was considering lifting sanctions on China.
“I was with him the other day talking about one thing or another. We are dealing with this almost a day at a time, and we have no precipitous actions right now.”
However, he said the underlying fundamentals, including jobs and consumer spending, remain strong.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank would cut interest rates if needed to help the economy.
“The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook,” he said. “We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy.”
