World faces recession of “unprecedented depth in post-war period” says Fitch

The world is on track for a recession of “unprecedented depth in the post-war period”, ratings agency Fitch says.

In a note issued on Thursday, Fitch chief economist Brian Coulton said the agency now expected world gross domestic product to tumble by 3.9% in 2020.

“This is twice as large as the decline anticipated in our early April GEO [global economic outlook] update and would be twice as severe as the 2009 recession,” he said.

Fitch said the slump implied a US$2.8tn fall in global income levels from last year.
Coulton said unprecedented floods of cash pumped into the economy by governments “will serve to cushion the near-term shock”.

“But with job losses occurring on an extreme scale and intense pressures on small and medium-sized businesses, the path back to normality after the health crisis subsides is likely to be slow,” he said.

Read more via Fitch