IMF chief says pandemic could trigger worst global recession since Great Depression

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on April 9 said that the world could see its worst economic year since the 1930s Great Depression with over 170 countries likely to record negative per capita income growth due to coronavirus pandemic. Kristalina was addressing the media on "Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy" when she made the remarks about negative per capita income growth. 

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Kristalina said, "Today we are confronted with a crisis like no other. COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory. The virus is causing tragic loss of life, and the lockdown needed to fight it has affected billions of people. What was normal just a few weeks ago—going to school, going to work, being with family and friends—is now a huge risk."

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"Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020. Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year," Kristalina added. The comments on the worst economic year by Kristalina came ahead of the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

The deadly coronavirus infection has claimed nearly 89,800 lives across the world and has infected over 15,36,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last month before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Iran have also overtaken China in terms of the COVID-19 death toll. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

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(Image Credit: AP)