IMF on coronavirus and the global economy – damage this year; sharp, rapid rebound

Comments from International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva over the weekend on the impact on the global economy

  • could damage global economic growth this year
  • a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow
  • “There may be a cut that we are still hoping would be in the 0.1-0.2 percentage space”
  • full impact of the spreading disease would depend on how quickly it was contained – “I advise everybody not to jump to premature conclusions. There is still a great deal of uncertainty. We operate with scenarios, not yet with projections, ask me in 10 days”
  • If the disease is “contained rapidly, there can be a sharp drop and a very rapid rebound”, in what is known as the V-shape