Global recession to be worst since Great Depression: IMF

Singapore

THE global economy is expected to contract sharply by 3 per cent in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in what is likely to be the worst recession since the Great Depression, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday.

If the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 and containment efforts can be gradually unwound, the global economy is projected to grow by 5.8 per cent in 2021 as economic activity normalises, helped by policy support, said the IMF in its World Economic Outlook report.