IMF Forecasts Fall In Global Growth By 0.1% Due To Impact Of Cornavirus

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut global growth by 0.1% due to the threat of  the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on China’s economy.

In January 2020, the IMF  forecast global growth to strengthen from 2.9% in 2019 to 3.3% in 2020.

However, the IMF Managing Director, Kristaline Georgieva on Saturday said that the downward review was due to the impact of the COVID-19 on China. She made the statement in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.

China contributed 21.74% to the world economic growth in 2018 alone, while it witnessed a  GDP growth of $14 trillion in 2019.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has slowed the country’s economy, as it lost $180 billion from consumer spending and tourism in the first 2 months of 2020.

Consequently Georgieva said the country’s economy would grow by 5.6%, a 0.4% downward review from the 6% forecast in January.

She however expressed hopes that the virus would be contained and global economy would recover in the second quarter of 2020.

“”While the impact of the　epidemic continues to unfold, the WHO’s assessment is that with strong and coordinated measures, the spread of the virus in China and globally can yet be contained and　the human tragedy arrested.

“We are still learning about how this complex virus spreads and the　uncertainties are too great to permit reliable forecasting. Many　scenarios　can play out, depending on how quickly the virus is contained and how fast the　Chinese and other affected economies return to normal.

“In our　current baseline scenario,　announced policies are implemented　and　China’s　economy would return to normal in the second quarter. As a result,　the impact on the world economy would be relatively minor and short-lived.”

She further praised the effort of the Chinese authority in the fight against the spread of the virus which has recorded about 76,288 cases, while 2,345 people were reported dead in mainland China alone.