US GDP in Q2 to contract by annualised rate of 37% due to Covid-19: IMF

US GDP is expected to contract by an annualised rate of 37 per cent in the second quarter and by 6.6 per cent for 2020 as a whole, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff said on Friday.

The longest economic expansion in US history has been derailed by the unanticipated advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the poorest households facing "particularly precarious prospects", according to the concluding statement, which describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The economic costs of the crisis are being borne disproportionately by the