The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday said that the world would experience an economic recession in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The IMF highlighted that this year’s recession could be worse than the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, with recovery expected to start only in 2021.
The IMF said the outlook for global economic growth was negative but it did not specify the predicted growth rate. Earlier this month, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the growth this year would be lower than the 2.9% rate recorded in 2019. The global financial crisis caused a 0.7% contraction in 2009.
She supports extraordinary fiscal policies issued by many countries to prop up growth amid the pandemic. Georgieva also underlined the importance of cooperation between countries to cushion the economic effects from the pandemic.
According to her G20 finance ministers and central bankers had agreed on the need for global solidarity to deal with the fast-spreading disease. She also highlighted the importance to focus on containment and strengthen health systems. As of March 24, COVID-19 has infected 381,653 people worldwide and killed 16,558 of them.
