The outlook for the US economy is determined by the coronavirus, about which there is a lot of uncertainty, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday. “We are almost certainly in a recession now, the question is will it be short or long.”
Kashkari further noted that he was pleased that a lot of focus was on keeping workers attached to businesses, per Reuters.
“If the downturn is long, we could see thousands of businesses going out of business; we want to try to avoid that,” Kashkari added.
Market reaction
The US Dollar Index (DXY) continues to stay near weekly highs after these comments. As of writing, the DXY was up 0.75% on the day at 100.22.