IMF warns of social unrest amid coronavirus pandemic

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned about a new wave of social unrest around the world as a result of the economic stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s chief economist, said in a report on Wednesday that economic stress caused by the pandemic may trigger an outbreak of protests, urging governments to take preventative measures.

She warned that countries where policy actions aimed at controlling the virus are perceived as insufficient or unfair are particularly vulnerable.

The IMF’s chief economist urged the international community to play a supportive role for poor countries through debt relief and concessional financing.

Gopinath further warned that the outcomes could be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) has warned of a massive recession worldwide following the coronavirus pandemic.

“This crisis is like no other,” Gopinath wrote in the report’s foreword. “Like in a war or a political crisis, there is continued severe uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the shock.”

The IMF official said today's “Great Lockdown” presented a ‘grim reality’ for policymakers, who faced “severe uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the shock.”

“A partial recovery is projected for 2021,” said Gopinath. “But the level of GDP will remain below the pre-virus trend, with considerable uncertainty about the strength of the rebound.”

“Much worse growth outcomes are possible and maybe even likely.”

She further said the crisis could knock $9 trillion (£7.2 trillion) off the global GDP over the next two years.

Efforts to halt the spread of the virus have shut down large swaths of the global economy. Unemployment numbers have also been rising as a result.

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The current lockdown has been extended by two weeks to April 15.

The COVID-19 is affecting 210 countries and territories around the world.

The virus has reached all continents except Antarctica and officially killed more than 120,000 people, including more than 26,000 in the United States.

Sub-Saharan Africa's economy to shrink 1.6% because of virus: IMF

The economy of sub-Saharan Africa will contract by 1.6 percent in 2020.

Worldwide confirmed coronavirus cases passed two million on Wednesday, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University, though experts caution that the virus has in all likelihood infected far more people.

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