The International Monetary Fund has forecast that the world's economy will shrink by 3% this year as a result of the Covid19 pandemic.
It forecasts the Eurozone will contract by 7.5%. In its World Economic Outlook published today, it describes the 'Great Lockdown’ as a ‘rare disaster’.
It says the magnitude and speed of collapse in activity is ‘unlike anything experienced in our lifetime’. The IMF’s Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath, says the cumulative loss in the value of world output could be nine trillion dollars, more than the combined economies of Japan and Germany.
The IMF says economies most reliant on tourism and travel will be the worst affected. Emerging economies will be impacted too as investors will be less likely to want to risk