The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the global economy into its deepest recession in a century, cutting world output by three percent this year, and the crisis could get worse, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.
The downturn will slash $9 trillion from the world economy, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters as she presented the latest forecasts in the World Economic Outlook.
If the virus is contained and economies can begin operating again, 2021 should see a rebound of 5.8 percent, according to the IMF.
But the authors acknowledged the difficulty in making an accurate forecast amid the rapidly changing situation. With much of the global economy shut down amid efforts to contain the virus and keep health systems from