The International Monetary Fund said emerging and developing economies are likely to contract about 1 percent this year with Asia ticking up to slightly offset the sharp declines expected in emerging Europe and Latin America.
From an estimate of over 4 percent growth just three months ago, the IMF in its 2020 World Economic Outlook slashed growth expectation for the region in 2020 to -1 percent. Growth of more than 1 percent expected for each India and China. Growth in Brazil, Mexico, and Russia is forecasted to shrink more than 5 percent. If tighter containment measures are necessitated by a wider virus spread among the countries, the Fund said growth would be even lower.
In an effort to curtail the coronavirus infection, cities across the globe have shrunk economic activity to a minimum. With business closures and other containment measures unwound gradually, the IMF’s forecasts assume that outbreaks of the virus will peak during the Q2 and fade in the second half of the year in most countries.
