(3 minutes read)
· Renewed waves and new variants of the Covid-19 virus pose concerns for the global economic outlook, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
· In a statement issued yesterday (26 January) by IMF, the global economy was projected to grow 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022
· The 2021 forecast is revised up 0.3 percentage point relative to the previous forecast in October 2020.
· The forecast is based on expectations of a vaccine-powered strengthening of activity later in the year and additional policy support in a few large economies
Renewed waves and new variants of the Covid-19 virus pose concerns for the global economic outlook, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In a statement issued yesterday (26 January) by the IMF, the global economy was projected to grow 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022. The 2021 forecast is revised up 0.3 percentage point relative to the previous forecast in October 2020. The forecast is based on expectations of a vaccine-powered strengthening of activity later in the year and additional policy support in a few large economies.
In just three months since the IMF released last forecast in October, Covid-19 deaths have doubled to over 2 million. New waves of infections went past previous peaks in many countries.
Experts are of the opinion that much now depends on the outcome of the vaccines and how effective they are against mutating virus. There remains tremendous uncertainty since the risks of mutation varies from country to country. IMF said that greater success with vaccinations and therapeutics and additional policy support could improve outcomes, while slow vaccine rollout, virus mutations, and premature withdrawal of policy support can worsen outcomes.
