"The coronavirus outbreak is a fast-developing situation, which creates risks for the economic outlook and the functioning of financial markets", Lagarde said. "The ECB is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economy, medium-term inflation and the transmission of our monetary policy. We stand ready to take appropriate and targeted measures, as necessary and commensurate with the underlying risks", she said.
Europe has registered so far over 1,300 cases of the coronavirus disease with Italy recording the highest number of infected people. The death toll in the region stood at 31.
The novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and has since spread to more than 58 countries, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency. Currently, the global death toll exceeds 3,000 people, with over 90,000 infected.
The health organization said the United Nations on Sunday released $15 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to help fund global efforts to contain the deadly outbreak.