WASHINGTON – IMF Warns Worst Economic Fallout Since The Great Depression. Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, on Thursday, said that the global coronavirus pandemic is causing an economic crisis unlike any other in the past century.
According to details, Georgieva said that the looming economic crisis will require a massive response to ensure recovery. She further warned that the global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020. This comes as 170 of the IMF’s 180 members experiencing a decline in per capita income.
IMF Chief further said that they anticipate the worst economic fallout since the great Depression. But it could get worse and there is tremendous uncertainty around the outlook and the duration of the pandemic. “The bleak outlook applies to advanced and developing economies alike. This crisis knows no boundaries. Everybody hurts,” Georgieva said.
Georgieva said this in a speech previewing next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. The said meeting will be on video conferencing due to the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19. She noted that about $100 billion in investments already had fled emerging markets. This is more than three times the capital exodus seen in the 2008 global financial crisis.
IMF Warns Worst Economic Fallout Since The Great Depression.
Countries already have taken steps worth a combined $8 trillion, but Georgieva urged governments to do more to provide “lifelines” for businesses and households to “avoid a scarring of the economy that would make the recovery so much more difficult.”
On Tuesday the IMF will release its World Economic Outlook with grim forecasts for its members for this year and next. In January, the IMF projected global growth of 3.3 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2021. But that was a different world.