The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its global growth forecast for this year as rising Covid-19 cases, supply chain disruptions and higher inflation hamper economic recovery.
In its delayed World Economic Outlook report, published Tuesday, the IMF said it expects global gross domestic product to weaken from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2022 — with this year’s figure being half a percentage point lower than previously estimated.
“The global economy enters 2022 in a weaker position than previously expected,” the report noted, highlighting “downside surprises” such as the emergence of the omicron Covid variant, and subsequent market volatility, since its October forecast.
The revised outlook is led by growth markdowns in the world’s two largest economies; the U.S. and China.
The U.S. is expected to grow 4.0% in 2022, 1.2 percentage points lower than previously forecast as the Federal Reserve moves to withdraw its monetary stimulus, even as supply chain disruptions weigh on the economy.
China, meanwhile, is predicted to grow 4.8% this year, down 0.8 percentage points from earlier estimates amid disruptions caused by its zero-Covid policy, as well as “projected financial stress” among its property developers.
