The fiscal and monetary measures, introduced by governments and central banks worldwide in order to rescue the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, are worth almost $20 trillion, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2020) The fiscal and monetary measures, introduced by governments and central banks worldwide in order to rescue the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, are worth almost $20 trillion, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.
"We have seen global fiscal actions of $12 trillion. Major central banks have expanded balance sheets by $7.5 trillion. These synchronized measures have prevented the destructive macro-financial feedback we saw in previous crises," Georgieva said in a speech.
However, the global community is still suffering from the consequences of the pandemic, especially the developing countries, meaning that "the measures to prevent the build-up of financial risks over the medium term" should be taken, the IMF chief noted.
In light of this, the public debt of almost all countries is expected to rise significantly next year, according to the IMF.
"We expect 2021 debt levels to go up significantly - to around 125 percent of GDP in advanced economies, 65 percent of GDP in emerging markets; and 50 percent of GDP in low-income countries," Georgieva added.
The global economy and trade have greatly suffered this year due to the pandemic and lockdown measures. The world's GDP in 2020 is forecast to decline by 4.4 percent but is expected to rebound to growth of 5.2 percent next year, IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report on Tuesday.
