IMF delays release of new global growth forecast to factor in Covid-19 developments
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The delay of IMF's World Economic Outlook comes amid signs another downgrade is coming due to the emergence of Omicron.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The International Monetary Fund will release its World Economic Outlook on Jan 25, a week later than planned, to factor in the latest Covid-19 developments, a spokesman for the global lender said on Tuesday (Jan 4).
This comes amid signs another downgrade is coming due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
"The World Economic Outlook update will be launched on Jan 25 to allow our teams to incorporate the latest developments related to the Covid-19 pandemic into the economic forecasts," the spokesman said.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice last month told reporters to expect the update on Jan 19.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva last month said at the Reuters Next conference that the lender was likely to further downgrade its global economic growth projections in January to reflect the emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Last October, the IMF had forecast global economic growth of 5.9 per cent in 2021 and 4.9 per cent this year, while underscoring the uncertainty posed by new coronavirus variants.
Covid-19 has killed nearly 5.8 million people worldwide over the past two years.
Economists expect the IMF to cut its economic forecast for the United States, the world's largest economy, given the rapid spread of Omicron, as well as the failure of Congress to pass US President Joe Biden's US$1.2 trillion (S$1.6 trillion) social and climate spending package.
In October, it had already slashed its forecast for US gross domestic product growth in 2021 by a full percentage point to 6 per cent, citing supply chain disruptions and a labour crunch, while forecasting growth of 5.2 per cent in 2022.
Since then, the pandemic has surged again, and divisions in Congress have deepened.
The US set a global record of almost one million new coronavirus infections on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, and its daily average has totalled 486,000 cases over the last week, a rate higher than that of any other country.
