Too early for accurate figures on coronavirus impact on global growth: IMF

It is premature to give precise projections of economic growth in China and the world in 2020 following the outbreak of coronavirus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

The IMF is still reviewing its projections for growth in China while looking at the impact of the epidemic on the global economy, Georgieva told a news conference in Morocco’s capital Rabat, where she discussed preparations for IMF and World Bank Group meetings to be held in October 2021 in Marrakech.

The IMF said last month global growth is projected to rise from an estimated 2.9 per cent in 2019 to 3.3 per cent in 2020 and 3.4 per cent in 2021.

“We are still hoping that the impact will be a V-shaped curve” with a sharp decline in China and sharp rebound after the containment of the virus, she said. “But we are not excluding that it might turn to be a different scenario like a U curve where the impact is somewhat longer.”

The virus has not yet peaked, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the ruling Communist party officials on Friday as the death toll climbed to over 2,200. The overall confirmed infection cases have climbed to 75,567, the country's health officials said amidst mounting concern over its spread to prisons in different provinces.