Stocks Rise and Earnings Season Begins: Live Markets Updates

April 14, 2020
Business

Tentatively, the fund projects growth to rebound to 5.8 percent next year.

In 2020, the I.M.F. projects that the U.S. economy will contract by 5.9 percent. In Europe, it will shrink by 7.5 percent, led by steep declines in Italy and Spain.

Emerging markets and developing economies will not be spared, but in some cases they fare better. In China, where the virus originated and where draconian measures were imposed to combat it, growth is forecast to slow to a rate of 1.2 percent this year.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said the economic damage was not likely to be erased quickly, particularly if people continue to be worried about contracting the virus.

“We know after the Great Depression people carried the scars of that experience with them for many, many years,” Mr. Kashkari said in an interview on the “Today” show. “I think the longer that this goes on, the more people who are affected by it, the longer that recovery is going to be.”

The Group of 7 finance ministers and central bankers, who were supposed to meet in Philadelphia this week, held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to assess the global economic crisis.

In a joint statement following the meeting, they pledged to coordinate their efforts to restore economic growth, protect jobs and reinforce the global financial system. They noted that the I.M.F. was prepared to deploy its $1 trillion lending capacity to help vulnerable economies cope with recessions.