It is forecast that the global market will require much longer to recover fully from the shock brought on by the new coronavirus than initially anticipated, the head of the International Monetary Fund says.
According to IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, the Fund is very likely to revise down its forecast for a three per cent contraction in GDP in 2020, with only a partial recovery expected next year rather than the 5.8 per cent initially anticipated.
The IMF in April predicted that company closures and subsequent lockdowns with the aim to slow the spread of this virus could throw the world into the deepest recession since the 1930s Great Depression.
But information reported since then points to more bad news, Georgieva said earlier this month.
The IMF has provided emergency financing to 56 countries since the crisis began and will act on 47 additional requests as promptly as possible, Georgieva said.
