By its new forecasts, the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is set to contract by 4.9% in 2020. The devastation wrought by the Great Lockdown, as IMF’s chief economist Gita Gopinath termed it, accounts for most of the revision. Worldwide, policy responses have been mounted to ease the suffocation of commerce, but they are unlikely to save the global economy from its plunge. Yet, the fog hanging over the future means that all GDP numbers could be up for further revision. As the IMF report’s caveats have it, there is a higher-than-usual degree of uncertainty around these forecasts.

Source: Mint June 24, 2020 16:16 UTC