World facing worst recession since the Great Depression – IMF

The world is heading for the deepest economic slump since the Great Depression, with Britain set to experience the biggest recession in a century, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

In its latest forecasts for the world economy, the IMF said that the world economy would shrink by 3% this year – a bigger contraction than the -0.1% in 2009 and, according to IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath, likely the “worst recession since the Great Depression”.

Referring to the fight against COVID-19 as “The Great Lockdown”, the Fund also pointed out that the recession could be even deeper than its central forecast if the coronavirus pandemic causes even lengthier shutdowns around the world in the coming months.

The IMF predicted that the UK economy would see its economy contract by 6.5% this year – the biggest slump since 1921.

Other European countries would experience similar contractions, with Italy shrinking by 9.1% and Spain by 8%.

Read more via Sky News/ NYT/ IMF