The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that the world has "clearly entered a recession" that will be worse than the global economic crisis in 2009 after reassessment of growth prospects for 2020 and 2021. Addressing an online press briefing, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said that the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help the developing countries come out of the crisis.
"We have reassessed the prospects of growth for 2020 and 2021. It is now clear that we have entered a recession - as bad or worse than in 2009," Georgieva said.
The IMF chief said that they have also projected recovery in 2021 but only if the coronavirus is contained everywhere and liquidity problems don't become a solvency issue. She, however, said that the sudden stop on the world economy due to coronavirus pandemic can trigger a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs that can undermind the recovery.
"A key concern about a long-lasting impact of the sudden stop on the world economy is the risk of a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs that only can undermine the recovery but can erode the fabric of our societies," Georgieva said.
The IMF's estimate "for the overall financial needs of emerging markets is $2.5 trillion", but Georgieva warned the estimate "is on the lower end." She also added that the IMF has launched a policy actions tracker for 186 countries to see who is doing what to tackle the crisis.
Global coronavirus death count over 27,000
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 27,000 people across the world. The deadly coronavirus has infected more than 5,97,000 people with the US surpassing Italy and China to have the highest number of positive cases.
The coronavirus is also spreading rapidly in India even as the country has enforced a nation-wide lockdown and completely shut the road, rail and air traffic. The country has registered 149 new cases of coronavirus infection in the past 24 hours, taking the total number to 873. So far, 19 people have died and at least 70 patients have recovered.
