Coronavirus's impact on the global economy | Money Smart

SAN ANTONIO — The fast-spreading coronavirus is causing widespread panic but it's also, raising fears about a possible recession.

KENS 5 spoke with a local financial advisor who shared insight on the history of recessions and his opinion on the coronavirus' impact on the economy.

"The global economy is cruising along at a pretty good pace but it is subject to outbreaks like the coronavirus that can tip you into a recession. It's analogous to an airplane that's flying at a fairly low altitude. You don't have as much room for error and that's how the global economy is right now," said Karl Eggerss, financial advisor at Covenant.

China remains one of the top economic powerhouses in the world. But the recent outbreak has caused travel bans and companies to shut down. If the illness continues to damage economic operations, Eggerss predicts China will take the biggest hit.

"I think the coronovirus is going to impact China the most. In fact, if we look back to SARS in 2002-2003, their GDP was affected. The United States wasn't affected as much. I think the same thing is going to happen this time around," said Eggerss. "Worst case scenario is that we do see a mild recession but since we haven't had one in a long time, a mild recession still feels really large."

He adds that the disruption to the economy isn't all negative for consumers day-to-day.

"Oil prices are falling, so viewers are going to have a better summer driving season because gasoline prices are coming down and interest rates are lower. Those two can help an economy," said Eggerss. "With china putting in more money into their economy, it could hold off a recession there and hopefully globally."