3 Minutes, by Read this article (Adds detail, context quotes) (Reuters) – LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) – The global economy is recovering at a different rate from the COVID-19 pandemic due to unequal access to vaccinations, with the Delta form posing a threat to countries lacking basic medical supplies, according to the IMF’s chief economist on Wednesday. Many countries are still fighting the virus, notably the increasingly dominant and extremely contagious Delta form, well over a year after the epidemic began. Pandemic breakouts and increasing restrictions are affecting Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia. “We are currently witnessing extremely unequal access to immunizations, as well as treatments and diagnostics. As a result, we’re seeing a diverging recovery “Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, spoke during a webcast at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s annual meeting. “The most pressing issue is how do we get to a place where we have good population coverage in terms of vaccination rates all throughout the world.” According to Gopinath, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America will lack the necessary testing, personal protective equipment, and oxygen to “survive this increase.” The IMF expects global GDP to return strongly this year after the worst yearly decline in the postwar era. It boosted its global growth forecasts to 6% this year in April, but projecting slower growth in developing nations than their industrialized counterparts. According to World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart, the crisis has been “exceptionally regressive” on concerns ranging from food security to poverty and debt. Meanwhile, as an uneven global recovery takes hold, strong increases in inflationary pressures are putting many countries to the test, according to Reinhart. Investors have been on the lookout for signals of inflation, particularly in the United States, where worries have been raised about the rate at which the Federal Reserve and other major central banks are removing policy support. According to Gopinath, the United States is facing temporary inflationary pressures connected to supply and demand mismatches manifesting themselves in delivery delays, with risks on the upside. “Many of these sources (of inflation) are transitive in nature, and there is reason to think that these statistics will return to more normal levels by next year,” she said. “Right now, my opinion is that we are in a period of temporary inflationary trends that will subside.” “Of course, there are always hazards on the upside.” (Tom Arnold and Elizabeth Howcroft contributed reporting; Karin Strohecker and Jonathan Oatis edited the piece.)/n
Read More
