IMF Managing Director Calls For Banks to Cancel Dividends and Stock Buybacks Due to Coronavirus

It's time for the world's big banks to batten down the financial hatches, suspending their dividend payments and share repurchase programs.

That, at least, is the view of International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva. She expressed her views on the subject in no uncertain terms in an editorial published Friday on the IMF's website.

Faced with widespread and perhaps long-lasting damage from the economic slowdown caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak, "[h]aving in place strong capital and liquidity positions to support fresh credit will be essential," Georgieva wrote. "One of the steps needed to reinforce bank buffers is retaining earnings from ongoing operations."

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Source Fool.com