Global economic outlook still worsening, will see worst blow since 1930; says IMF’s Georgieva

The global economic outlook has darkened further since the IMF forecast last month that it would suffer the worst blow since the 1930s as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to its managing director Kristalina Georgieva.

The fund will next month publish downward revisions to its global economic forecasts, reflecting the fact that the virus had spread further and the economic impact had intensified in recent weeks, Ms Georgieva said on Tuesday.

In mid-April the IMF forecast a contraction of 3 per cent in global output, with emerging and developing economies contracting 1 per cent and advanced economies 6.1 percent over the course of this year.

Speaking in an interview during the FT’s Global Boardroom online conference on Tuesday, she said: “With the crisis still spreading, the outlook is worse than our already pessimistic projection.

Without medical solutions on a global scale, for many economies a more adverse development is likely.” Ms Georgieva said the IMF’s previous forecast that emerging and developing countries would need $2.5tn of financial assistance to see them through the crisis would also be revised upwards.