The International Monetary Fund raised the global growth forecasts on Tuesday amid high uncertainty and warned of divergent impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic such as sharply rising income inequality. The world economy is set to grow 6.0 percent this year and 4.4 percent next year, the global lender said in its latest World Economic Outlook report, released Tuesday. In a January update to the WEO, the IMF had projected growth of 5.5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. The latest projections were also stronger than those in the October WEO report. The upgrade reflects the additional fiscal support in a few large economies and the anticipated vaccine-powered recovery in the second half of the year, the lender said. The global economy contracted an estimated 3.3 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic savaged economic activity across the world. Unprecedented policy response in the form of monetary and fiscal stimulus likely made the Covid-19 recession less severe than the 2008 global financial crisis, the report said. The collapse would have been three times worse without the swift support. However, the IMF warned of severe divergent impacts from the pandemic. "Recoveries are also diverging dangerously across and within countries, as economies with slower vaccine rollout, more limited policy support, and more reliance on tourism do less well," IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said. The report said income inequality is set to increase significantly because of the pandemic and unequal setbacks in schooling compound the problem.
Close to 95 million more people are estimated to have fallen below the threshold of extreme poverty in 2020 compared with pre-pandemic projections, the IMF said.
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April 10, 2026 16:21 ET Inflation data from the U.S. was the main data event this week as the conflict in the Middle East continue. The minutes of the latest Fed policy session and the survey data on the services sector also made headlines. In Europe, manufacturing orders data from Germany was in focus. Price data from China drew attention in Asia.