The Bank of England is ready to take further action whenever needed to stem the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Andrew Bailey said in his first public remarks after assuming the central bank’s leadership on Monday.

Prolonged economic effects from the coronavirus are “something we want to minimize and stop,” Bailey said, speaking in a pooled television interview. “That’s why you saw prompt action last week, that’s why you’ll see prompt action again when we need to take it. The public can be assured of that.”

The BOE cut interest rates by 50 basis points in an emergency meeting last week and introduced other measures to help companies as part of a plan with the government.

Just hours before Bailey officially started, he was part of a coordinated move by central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve to inject liquidity into the global financial system through swap lines.

“The action that the Federal Reserve took, in coordination with the other central banks, on the swap lines -- that’s important because you saw some pretty big dislocations in financial markets last week,” Bailey said.

“We’re going to see how that works its way through the markets today and in coming days to see what the effect is, but I would emphasize that there’s strong coordination among central banks.”

--With assistance from Lucy Meakin.