Global economy ‘recovering faster than expected’

DUBAI

The world’s economy is recovering faster than expected from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. The IMF now expects global gross domestic product to fall by 4.4 per cent this year — better than the forecast of a 5.2 per cent contraction the Fund made in June — and sees a 5.2 per cent recovery for 2021.

Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s economic counselor and director of research, said; “We are projecting a somewhat less severe though still deep recession in 2020, relative to our June forecast. The revision is driven by second quarter GDP out-turns in large advanced economies, which were not as negative as we had projected.” The better outlook was also due to China’s return to growth, which was stronger than expected, and signs of a more rapid recovery in the third quarter, she said. China is the only major economy forecast to grow this year, with GDP adding 1.9 per cent before a significant 8.2 per cent jump in 2021. The US will see a 4.3 per cent fall this year, and a 3.1 per cent recovery in 2021.

Image courtesy : Foreign Policy