Publications /
Policy Brief

Back
Download PDF
The Impact of Coronavirus on the Global Economy
Authors
Otaviano Canuto
June 22, 2020
Related topics: 
Economy
Macroeconomics and regulation

COVID-19 brought the global economy to a sudden stop, causing shocks to supply and demand. Starting in January 2020, country after country suffered outbreaks of the new coronavirus, with each facing epidemiological shocks that led to economic and financial shocks as a consequence. How quickly and to what extent will national economies recover after the pandemic has passed? This will depend on success in containing the coronavirus and on exit strategies, as well as on the effectiveness of policies designed to deal with the negative economic effects of the coronavirus. The impact of coronavirus on the global economy will extend beyond 2020. According to forecasts from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, GDP per capita at the end of 2021 is still expected to be lower than December 2019 in most countries. Emerging markets and other developing countries, in addition to facing difficulties in dealing with their own coronavirus outbreaks, have suffered additional shocks from abroad. In their cases, the new coronavirus brought a perfect storm. One can foresee a post-coronavirus global economy marked by higher levels of public and private debt, acceleration in digitization processes, and less globalization.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Download PDF
    Does Growth Create Jobs in the G-20 Economies?
    Authors
    Saurabh Mishra
    Prakash Loungani
    September 1, 2015
    Les fonds souverains, objet de toutes les attentions au cours des années 2000, devraient voir leur rôle de « stabilisateur » de l’économie se renforcer dans les mois à venir, en raison de la chute du prix des matières premières. Ces véhicules d’investissement doivent cependant être coordonnés avec les outils traditionnels de la politique fiscale et ne peuvent affranchir les pouvoirs publics d’effectuer à plus ou moins long terme les ajustements budgétaires que ce nouvel environnemen ...
  • The Labors of Tsipras
    Authors
    Uri Dadush
    July 10, 2015
    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has already completed two notable labors. First, he led his radical left-wing Syriza party to an improbable election victory in January 2015. Then, also improbably, he won a resounding no vote in a referendum on July 5 on accepting the terms of Greece’s international creditors for a new bailout package. According to Greek mythology, there are ten more labors to go, and indeed, it will probably take that many to redeem the Greek economy. Tsipras’s ...
  • Greece, Complacency, and the Euro
    Authors
    Uri Dadush
    June 8, 2015
    European stock markets are booming, and the European Commission has just upgraded its GDP growth forecasts for this year and next. In 2016, the eurozone could grow faster than the United States. And this is all happening even as the Greek drama approaches its cathartic moment, leading some to speculate that the euro crisis is nearing its end, with or without Greece. Is it? To answer this vital question, ignore the politics for a moment and focus on economic fundamentals. A look at ...
  • Download PDF
    Règles budgétaires et soutenabilité des finances publiques
    Authors
    Pierre-Richard Agénor
    May 22, 2015
    Cet article examine la formulation, la mise en oeuvre, et la performance des règles budgétaires, avec un accent particulier sur l’expérience des pays en développement à moyen revenu. La première partie propose une définition et une justification des règles budgétaires, ainsi qu’une taxonomie de ces règles. La deuxième partie fournit un panorama des règles utilisées actuellement de par le monde. La troisième partie considère une série de questions liées à la mise en oeuvre des règles ...
  • Download PDF
    Economic integration in the time of turmoil
    Authors
    Uri Dadush
    May 18, 2015
    Economic integration is crucial in order to achieve rapid and sustainable growth. However, instabilities in the MENA region and the recent plunge in oil prices may stifle the economic progress in some of these countries, and threaten their attempts at integration. Within this context, this note seeks to analyze the efforts of integration that MENA countries have undertaken, particularly through trade agreements; and to articulate some principles that can help guide the ongoing searc ...