Today, a top International Monetary Fund official said that the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic will be “quite severe,” but a long expansionary period and high employment rates mean the global economy should weather the current shock.

Martin Muehleisen, who heads the IMF’s strategy policy and review department, said in an IMF podcast that the main goal for governments should be to limit the spread of the virus in a way that provides confidence that the economic shock will be temporary.

He added that banks and governments had already taken unprecedented measures to provide liquidity to markets and keep them functioning, “maybe more than we needed,” but such steps should be coordinated internationally to amplify their effect.

“The better organized and the more coordinated the health responses to this crisis, the more quickly it may be possible that confidence returns,” he said.

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations last week said they would do “whatever it takes” to respond to the outbreak, but provided no specifics, which left markets unsettled.