WORLD BANK SEES SUBDUED RECOVERY IN 2021 AND PLENTY OF RISK

The global economy will experience a subdued recovery this year from the devastating pandemic, the World Bank predicted, but it warned that the near-term outlook is highly uncertain and growth could be imperiled if coronavirus infections and delays in the rollout of vaccines continue.

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In its new Global Economic Outlook, the World Bank forecast 4% growth this year following a 4.3% decline in 2020, the biggest plunge in global output since a contraction of 9.8% in 1945 as nations demobilized at the end of World War II.

By comparison, the global recession triggered by the Great Depression of the 1930s saw growth shrink by 4.8% on average from 1930 through 1932. The 2008 financial crisis triggered a 1.8% drop in global output in 2009.

“If history is any guide, the global economy is heading for a decade of growth disappointments unless policy makers put in place comprehensive reforms,” the bank warned, citing the global pandemic layered over economic trends already in play.