25 Jun 2020 15:32

IMF forecasts deeper slump for Russian, global economies

MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax) - The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its outlook for the Russian economy in 2020 and now expects the country to see a slump of 6.6% instead of the 5.5% drop it forecast in April.

The global economy will also contract by more than previously thought, by 4.9% instead of 3%, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook Update, published on Wednesday.

The updated IMF forecast is more pessimistic than official Russian projections. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) expects GDP to shrink by 4-6% in 2020, and the Economic Development Ministry expects a slump of 5%.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had more of a negative impact on global economic activity in the first half of 2020 than previously thought, and the recovery is now expected to be more gradual that forecast earlier, the IMF said.

The IMF now expects the global economy to rebound by only 5.4% in 2021 instead of 5.8%, as forecast in April.

However, the IMF is more optimistic about Russia's recovery and now expects it to grow by 4.1% in 2021, by 0.6 percentage points more than forecast in April. The Economic Development Ministry and CBR forecast growth of 3.2% and 2.8-4.8%, respectively, in 2021.