ECONOMIC AND MARKET OVERVIEW
Global
It’s been just over a year since most of us learnt of the existence of a new coronavirus and its related disease, Covid 19. This pandemic has had a significant and lasting effect on the global economy.
In their latest World Economic Outlook Update the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects fiscal and monetary support, as well as the distribution of vaccines, to broadly lift economic activity around the world. However, this view is not without risks. Although recent vaccine approvals have raised hopes of a turnaround in the pandemic later this year, renewed waves and new variants of the virus pose concerns for the outlook Amid high levels of uncertainty, the global economy is projected to grow 5.5 percent in 2021 and 4.2 percent in 2022 against a long term average of around 3.5% per annum. This follows a contraction of 3.5% last year, which was a smaller decline than expected in the midst of the synchronized economic lockdown.
The strength of the recovery is projected to vary significantly across countries, depending on access to medical interventions, effectiveness of policy support, exposure to cross country spillovers, and structural characteristics entering the crisis.
