Global growth projected at 6 percent in 2021 — IMF Report

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) through its World Economic Outlook (WEO) has projected the global growth for 2021 to 6 percent which will moderate to 4.4 percent in 2022.

According to the report, the prospects globally remain uncertain due to the novel Coronavirus pandemic.

“Global growth is projected at 6 percent in 2021, moderating to 4.4 percent in 2022. The projections for 2021 and 2022 are stronger than in the October 2020 WEO."

To fight to get a resilient economy, the fight goes beyond the ability to clamp down the virus through vaccines and other means but the fight should be extended to deploying effective economic policies that can yield positive results in these uncertain times.

The report adds that “the upward revision reflects additional fiscal support in a few large economies, the anticipated vaccine-powered recovery in the second half of 2021, and continued adaptation of economic activity to subdued mobility.

“High uncertainty surrounds this outlook, related to the path of the pandemic, the effectiveness of policy support to provide a bridge to vaccine-powered normalization, and the evolution of financial conditions".

The report stressed that a year into the pandemic, the accumulating human toll is another concern even though the vaccines are helping but even upon all that the uncertainties remain high.

“One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the accumulating human toll continues to raise concerns, even as growing vaccine coverage lifts sentiment. High uncertainty surrounds the global economic outlook, primarily related to the path of the pandemic.

“The contraction of activity in 2020 was unprecedented in living memory in its speed and synchronized nature", the report adds.

The situation could have been dire according to IMF if not for pragmatic policy support undertaking by the body.

“it could have been a lot worse. Although difficult to pin down precisely, IMF staff estimates suggest that the contraction could have been three times as large if not for extraordinary policy support.

“Much remains to be done to beat back the pandemic and avoid divergence in income per capita across economies and persistent increases in inequality within countries", the report cautioned.