(June 10): The OECD sees a 6% global economic slump this year and warned that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses and the most vulnerable will require extraordinary government action, it said in its quarterly outlook.
That’s based on a scenario of the virus continuing to recede. A second wave, which the OECD said is an equally likely scenario, could mean a 7.6% contraction.
“By the end of 2021, the loss of income exceeds that of any previous recession over the last 100 years outside wartime, with dire and long-lasting consequences,” OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone said. “The pandemic has accelerated the shift from ‘great integration’ to ‘great fragmentation.’”