Ireland's Varadkar: Contingency funds set aside for hard Brexit to be used for coronavirus

The contingency funds for firms set aside for a no-deal Brexit scenario will be repurposed to battle the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy, acting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Monday, as reported by Reuters.

"The coronavirus package of reforms agreed for sick pay, illness benefit is estimated to cost 2.4 billion euros," Varadkar added and noted that they may have to borrow additional funds for coronavirus actions.

Varadkar further announced that all St Patrick's Day parades in Ireland will be cancelled.

Market reaction

Risk-aversion remains the main market theme amid a barrage of headlines related to the coronavirus outbreak. At the moment, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is down 35% on the day while traditional safe-haven currencies, such as CHF and the JPY, cling to strong gains against the USD.