IMF: “worst is yet to come” in global economy
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast the “worst is yet to come” economically as it predicts a third of the global economy will contract in 2023, facing two consecutive quarters of negative growth, Sky News reports. The IMF made its predictions in its latest World Economic Outlook report.
According to the IMF report, only 2.7% growth is expected next year, down from the 6% growth in 2021 and lower than the 3.2% growth expected this year, Sky News reports.
The IMF said the current situation represents the “weakest growth profile” since 2001, aside from the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global financial crisis.
“For many people 2023 will feel like a recession,” the IMF added.
The IMF report notes that the world’s largest economies – those of the US, EU, and China – remain slow – and this affects the economy worldwide.
The US gross domestic product (GDP) contracted in the first half of 2022, and the EU economy contracted in the second half of this year. Meanwhile, China’s prolonged COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns have created a property sector crisis.
In a statement to reporters, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the recovery of the global economy depends on the “successful calibration” of monetary policy, the war in Ukraine, and pandemic-related supply disruptions.