UN forecasts 4.7% global economic growth in 2021

UN forecasts 4.7% global economic growth in 2021

The United Nations warned Monday that the world economy is “on a cliffhanger,” still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic whose impact will be felt for years but still expected to make a modest recovery of 4.7 per cent in 2021 which would barely offset 2020 losses.

The UN's new report on the World Economic Situation and Prospects said the once-in-a-century crisis sparked by the global impact of the coronavirus caused the global economy to shrink by 4.3 per cent in 2020 — the sharpest contraction in global output since the Great Depression that began in 1929 and far higher than the 1.7 per cent reduction during the Great Recession of 2009.

“The depth and severity of the unprecedented crisis foreshadows a slow and painful recovery,” said UN chief economist Elliott Harris, the assistant secretary-general for economic development. “As we step into a long recovery phase with the roll out of the vaccines against Covid-19, we need to start boosting longer-term investments that chart the path toward a more resilient recovery — accompanied by a fiscal stance that avoids premature austerity.”

According to the report, the lockdowns, quarantine measures and social distancing