The global recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic will be worse than in 2009, but early signs of a recovery are appearing in China, including renewed pollution, IMF economists said Monday.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the world into arecession. For 2020 it will be worse than the global financial crisis,”the authors, including International Monetary Fund chief economist GitaGopinath, said in a blog post.
“The economic damage is mounting across all countries,tracking the sharp rise in new infections and containment measures put in placeby governments.” China, where the virus appeared in mid-December, was thefirst hit by the full force of the economic impact as authorities locked downwhole regions to try to contain the spread.
The world’s second largest economy, China saw a modestrecovery in a key manufacturing index in March, and satellite images showincreasing concentrations of nitrogen dioxide last month, indicating a pickupin industrial activity and transportation, the blog said.”Therecovery in China, albeit limited, is encouraging, suggesting that containmentmeasures can succeed in controlling the epidemic and pave the way for aresumption of economic activity,” the authors wrote.