Open this photo in gallery Milan's Piazza Gae Aulenti is uncharacteristically quiet on Feb. 25, 2020, due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus. Andrea Mantovani/The New York Times News Service

The coronavirus has increased the risk of a global recession this year, credit rating agency Moody’s said on Friday.

As part of a wholesale cut in its forecasts, Moody’s said that advanced economies including the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Britain and Korea could all fall into recession in an “adverse scenario.”

China’s GDP growth would fall below 4 per cent even with substantive economic stimulus it added, while South Africa, to which Moody’s is important because it provides the country’s only remaining investment grade rating, would also struggle to grow.