Unrealistic growth forecasts

Substantial shrinkage of GDP is now a certainty

The incoming high-frequency indicators suggest that most forecasters would need to take a fresh look at their projections for gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the current year. There are good reasons to believe that overall economic growth will be sharply in the negative this year, and not hover around the zero per cent mark, which many have predicted. Many sectoral and economy-wide indicators for April have fallen significantly, and as attempts to ease the lockdown get under way, it has already become clear that this will not be an easy or smooth process. For instance, power consumption in April