"The first priority is to contain the virus - if there is a sustained surge in cases, this will damage consumer and investor confidence," Lane said during an exchange on Twitter.

"The baseline scenario in our staff projections indeed factors in that a medical solution is found over the course of next year," he added. "This would support a recovery in the service sector and put upward pressure on service sector inflation."

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)