Coronavirus to hit global growth in 2020: IMF

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, opined that the coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year. The disease has already affected some sectors such as tourism and transportation. She clarified that the full impact of this global health scare would depend on how soon it is contained.

This January, when the IMF released its World Economic Outlook, it IMF lowered global economic growth forecast in 2020 by a 0.1% point to 3.3%. The same period last year witnessed a growth of 2.9%, the lowest in a decade. Some of the challenges affecting the economies around the world include low productivity growth, low economic growth, low interest rates and low inflation.

However, she also remained optimistic that sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow. “I advise everybody not to jump to premature conclusions. There is still a great deal of uncertainty. We operate with scenarios, not yet with projections, ask me in 10 days,” Georgieva stated. She also noted that the trade agreement between the United States and China, the world’s first and second economies, had reduced the disease’s impact on global economy.