IMF warns developing nations falling behind due to unequal vaccine access

IMF warns developing nations falling behind due to unequal vaccine access

(MENAFN  - AFP)

While the global economy is still growing, the uneven distribution of vaccines is widening disparities as rich countries pick up speed and leave developing nations behind, the IMF warned Tuesday.

"Vaccine access has emerged as the principal fault line along which the global recovery splits into two blocs," the International Monetary Fund said in its updated World Economic Outlook.

But the IMF warned of the danger to the whole world if new virus variants are allowed to take hold.

The recovery "is not assured even in countries where infections are currently very low so long as the virus circulates elsewhere," the report said.

World GDP will expand by six percent this year, unchanged from the April forecast, but IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath flagged the "widening gap" as advanced economies grow faster and developing nations, especially in Asia, slow.

The United States is projected to see much faster growth this year than previously forecast, expanding seven percent growth thanks to massive government spending and widespread Covid-19 vaccinations, but the IMF slashed the forecast for India, which is facing a resurgence of infections.