WASHINGTON: The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will power a stronger global economic recovery in 2021, the International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday (January 26).
After sinking 3.5 percent in 2020, the worst year since World War II, the global economy will grow 5.5 percent this year, the lending agency expected 190 countries. The new figure for 2021 is an update from the 5.2 percent expansion the IMF forecast in October and would mark the fastest year of global growth since the 2010 recession from the financial crisis.
The vaccines should introduce the spread of the virus and allow governments around the world to reduce locks and return to normal economic activity. But the IMF also says economies around the world need support from their governments to counter the damage from the pandemic and warns that coronavirus mutations could weaken the outlook for global health and economic growth. reduction.
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In an update to the World Economic Forecast, the IMF said it expects the U.S. economy – the largest in the world – to expand 5.1 percent this year after falling 3.4 percent in 2020. No. 2 China is expected to record 8.1 percent growth. after reaching a 2.3 per cent increase in 2020.
The 19 European countries that share the euro together will record 4.2 percent growth this year after seeing economic output decline by 7.2 percent in 2020, the IMF says. Japan’s economy is expected to grow 3.1 percent, reversing a 5.1 percent decline in 2020.
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The IMF has given India a major overhaul, thanks to a faster-than-expected recovery by its factories and farms: India’s economy is expected to grow 11.5 percent in 2021, the fastest among major economies, and a reversal from the 2020 recession of 8 per cent.
The group also expects global trade to return this year: Recording growth of 8.1 percent after falling 9.6 percent last year.
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