BENGALURU: The global economy is already in a recession as the hit to economic activity from the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has become more widespread, according to economists polled by Reuters amid a raft of central bank stimulus actions this week. More than three-quarters of economists based in the Americas and Europe polled this week, 31 of 41, said the current global economic expansion had already ended, in response to a question about whether the global economy was already in recession. “Last week we concluded that the Covid-19 shock would produce a global recession as nearly all of the world contracts over the three months between February and April,” noted Bruce Kasman, head of global economic research at JP Morgan. “As cases of coronavirus spiral upward, disruptions to the global economy are increasing. In a worst case scenario, the economy was forecast to contract 1.0 per cent next quarter and by 0.7 per cent in 2020.

Source: New Strait Times March 20, 2020 01:09 UTC