The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted economic activity, created uncertainty, and weakened global growth conditions. Latest data for the first quarter of 2020 show a sharp contraction in economies most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, partly reflecting the effect of public health counter measures implemented to slow the spread of the virus.
The global economy is therefore projected to contract by 3.0 percent in 2020 under the baseline assumption that the pandemic slows in the second half of 2020, and containment measures gradually ease across most countries (IMF, April 2020 WEO).
Global inflationary pressures remain contained. Global headline inflation remained relatively subdued, reflecting the weakening global demand and the associated collapse of oil prices.
Brent crude oil prices have fallen by more than 50 percent since January 2020, due to concerns about global demand amid the Covid-19 containment measures to slow the rate of transmission and the inability of OPEC+ alliance to agree on production cuts, among others.
