Global growth is expected to contract by -3% in 2020. Assuming the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 & that policy actions taken by countries are effective, global growth can be expected to partially rebound to 5.8 % in 2021. @GitaGopinath on #WEO https://t.co/93xXDRsg3B pic.twitter.com/vw7gITLkfI
— IMF (@IMFNews) April 19, 2020
That the COVID-19 Pandemic is inflating high and rising human costs worldwide and that the necessary protective measures being implemented by Governments are severely impacting economic activity is a fact well known and understood by virtually everyone on this planet. In its World Economic Outlook for April 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that as a result of the Pandemic, the global economy will contract sharply by -3 percent in 2020, much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crises.
In a baseline scenario the report went further to say, whereby an assumption is made that the pandemic will fade in the second half of 2020,, and lock-downs are gradually lifted, it is projected that the global economy will grow by 5.8 percent in 2021 as economies normalizes, helped by policy support.
Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, stated that the cumulative loss of global GDP over 2020 and 2021 from the pandemic crisis is projected to be around $9 Trillion, greater than the economies of Japan and Germany combined.
Nigeria’s economy which grew by 2.2 percent in 2019 is expected to contract by 3.4% in 2020, and return to a 2.4 percent growth in 2021. The risk for even more severe outcomes are still substantial, and in view of this, IMF has an advise for policymakers in Nigeria and around the World. Effective policies are essential to forestall the possibility of worse outcomes, and the necessary measures to reduce contagion and protect lives, these are important investment in long-term human and economic health. Because the economic fallout is acute in specific sectors, policymakers need to implement substantial targeted fiscal monetary, and financial market measures to support affected households and businesses domestically.
In a policy document released on 15th April 2020 titled TURNING THE COVID-19 TRAGEDY INTO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR NIGERIA, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele outlined policies that the Bank are putting in place to respond to the economic crisis being created by the pandemic.
As at the time of filling this report, there were 2,355,337 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 162,013 related deaths globally, and Nigeria has reported 542 confirmed cases, 19 deaths and 166 patients recovered and discharged.
Written by;
Basil Maduakor
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