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| - President Donald Trump is "very close" to reaching a stimulus agreement with US lawmakers to fight the coronavirus outbreak's economic damage that has sent markets plunging and disrupted businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday. The fear surrounding the virus has pushed Wall Street indices into a bear market, shut down Disneyland and Broadway, and led major sports leagues to cancel or postpone their seasons, but Mnuchin called the slowdown a "short-term issue." The president is committed to getting a "major stimulus package" through Congress, Mnuchin told CNBC, but he did not provide specifics. Options include a payroll tax cut and other ways to provide funds for people who cannot work because of the virus. "There's no question there's a short-term economic issue, but we will get through this." Mnuchin spoke after the Dow had its worst session since 1987, diving 10 percent in Thursday trading even as the US Federal Reserve moved to inject $1.5 trillion of cash into markets this week and broadened its purchases of US Treasury debt -- both moves reminiscent of the global financial crisis in 2008. Uncertainty over the stimulus package and sharp partisan rhetoric was an exacerbating factor in Thursday's declines, where selling was also spurred by Trump's shock travel ban on Europe and the near-constant stream of event cancelations. Mnuchin spoke with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi twice Friday morning and eight times on Thursday, according to Drew Hammill, Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, and media are reporting that Congress is expected to consider a package later in the day. Mnuchin vowed in the interview that banks would have enough liquidity, saying once the virus is overcome "the economy will be stronger than ever." He also encouraged people to buy stocks, rejected the need to close markets and said he would be willing to fly commercial airlines. "Not everybody who has sniffles will have the coronavirus," Mnuchin said. The Dow regained about 3.0 percent in middmorning trading Friday, retreating from the surge seen at the open. The Fed made made an emergency interest rate cut last week, and on Wednesday is expected to lower its benchmark borrowing rate again from the current 1.0-1.25 percent range. The two-day policy meeting could even see rates cut all the way to zero, but economists say fiscal stimulus is the best tool to fight the downturn. The Fed on Friday also announced $29 billion in purchases of Treasury debt of all maturities, through 20-year bonds to address what it called "highly unusual disruptions" in the market due to the coronavirus outbreak. The University of Michigan's monthly Survey of Consumers released Friday showed that Americans were indeed worried by the outbreak of COVID-19. Consumer sentiment fell to 95.9 points in March from 101.0 points a month ago, the survey said. The survey's chief economist Richard Curtin blamed the outbreak and concerns about the economy for the decline but noted that "the pandemic is widely regarded as a temporary event," and so far "has not generated the type of economic panic among consumers that was present in the runup to the Great Recession." He called for immediate relief in the form of "multiple sources of cash transfers and debt forbearance." "To avoid a recession, speed is more essential than targeting." Since breaking out in China, the COVID-19 virus has killed more than 5,000 people as of Friday and spread globally with cases topping 134,000, according to an AFP tally. Health authorities have warned that the outbreak is already well-entrenched in the US: the state of Ohio likely has more than 100,000 people carrying the virus, its health department said Friday. Meanwhile at least six US states have ordered schools to close as confirmed infections in the country climbed to more than 1,660 people. cs/hs
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