Business
IMF Upgrades 2020 Forecast For Global Economy
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting a somewhat less severe recession than it predicted in June.
The change in the outlook applies to both the global economy and the United Kingdom.
But the IMF says in its new World Economic Outlook that the global economy is still in deep recession and the risk of a worse outcome than in its new forecast is “sizable”.
For Britain, the IMF now predicts the economy will decline by 9.8% this year. The June forecast was 10.2%.
However, the rebound expected next year is also more moderate. In the case of the UK, that downgrade is similar to the upgrade for this year.
The contraction the IMF predicts for 2020 in Britain would be the second deepest fall among the G7 group of largest rich economies. Only Italy is predicted to do worse.
Beyond the G20, India is likely to also experience a deeper decline this year than the UK. So is Spain. Tourism-dependent economies are in a “particularly difficult spot”, the report notes.
For 2021, the British forecast is only a partial recovery of 5.9%, which would leave the economy still smaller than last year.