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THE International Monetary Fund has lowered its global growth forecast for this year and next in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
It now predicts a decline of almost 5 percent in 2020, substantially worse than its forecast only 10 weeks ago in April.
The UK economy is expected to contract more than 10 percent this year, followed by a partial recovery in 2021. That would be one of the most severe declines, although not as deep as forecast for Italy, France or Spain.
The IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, had already warned that the April forecast had been overtaken by events, and that the likely path of the global economy was looking worse. That is reflected in the new projections for both the world and the British economy.
The recession caused by the pandemic – globally and in many individual countries – is likely to be deeper than the IMF previously thought. The previous April forecasts were a 6.5 percent decline for the UK and 3 percent for the world. -BBC
Online Reporter