The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development now sees world output dropping by 4.2% this year thanks to the months-long lockdowns that slowed the spread of the coronavirus but threw a wrench into the global economy.
The IMF expects global growth to contract by 4.4% this year before rebounding 5.2% in 2021. However, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva noted third-quarter growth was better than expected in the US, Japan, and European countries.
Growth in 2021 is expected to be slightly slower than forecast in June and even weaker in the next few years due to the lasting damage inflicted by COVID-19.
The news of Donald Trump's diagnosis sparked fresh political chaos in the world's biggest economy just one month before Americans go to the polls.
Here are the second quarter changes in gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the previous quarter for the world's top economies.
The Federal Reserve concludes its latest policy meeting later in the day, and while it is not expected to announce any new measures, there are hopes it will offer new guarantees that it will keep the stimulus in place for an extended period.
US second-quarter economic growth data is also due this week, and a disappointing reading on what is expected to be a historic contraction could fuel further dollar weakness.
The country’s troubled response to the coronavirus pandemic emerges as a chief risk to any sustained global recovery.
The agency has cut its growth forecasts for emerging markets, predicting a 4.7% slump on average this year due to the coronavirus.
They said the pandemic was a tragedy but it was a chance for humanity to "examine what is essential".
The latest findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer challenge the notion that “lockdown fatigue” is rising among populations hit by the pandemic.
Crude futures plunged to record lows this month, with US prices sinking briefly into negative territory, also following a vicious price-war between major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The world's second-largest economy tanked in the first three months of the year as factories closed, consumers were compelled to stay home, and the virus spread to other countries.
The downturn will slash $9 trillion from the world economy, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters as she presented the latest forecasts in the World Economic Outlook.
Edward Chancellor writes that the decisions of businesspeople and investors are necessarily affected by their thinking about COVID-19. It’s more important than ever to avoid allowing cognitive biases to overwhelm better judgement.
Mario Centeno, who is also Portugal's finance minister, said the funds would be made available via the European Stability Mechanism. Centeno said any credit line should be designed to help, not make matters worse for those states needing aid.
Finance is doing more harm than good. It's supposed to help the economy run smoothly by channelling money to the places where it can do the most economic good. Instead, it's slowing down growth and adding risk, writes Edward Hadas.
We must avoid the mistakes made throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries by undertaking fundamental reforms to ensure that we never again face the threat of pandemics.
