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Wednesday, 14 October 2020_The eurozone economy will suffer a historic crash in 2020, but not as badly as first expected, IMF data showed on Tuesday as it warned of a slow recovery.
The IMF said the eurozone economy would contract by a staggering 8.3 percent this year, a free fall not seen since the 1930s Great Depression.
However this was an improvement on the 10.2 percent drop predicted in June and before the European economy stirred back into action over the summer months.
With as yet no medical solution to the pandemic, the IMF warned that the economy would only expand by 5.2 percent in 2021, weaker than the 6.0 percent predicted in June.
The data for this year was better than the EU's own July forecast that said the eurozone economy would plunge by 8.7 percent in 2020.
The European Union was far more optimistic for 2021, seeing a 6.1 percent expansion, nearly a full point stronger than the IMF's forecast.
In Europe, Spain would suffer the most with GDP sliding by 12.8 percent this year. Italy would crash by 10.6 percent and France by 8.3 percent.
Germany, the continent's export powerhouse, would see growth suffer by six percent this year, the IMF said, as demand from Asia remained sustained.
Non-EU Britain would see its economy shrink by 9.8 percent in 2020, with a 5.9 percent recovery in 2021, the fund said.
It noted that a failure to forge a trade deal by December 31 "would increase business costs and could disrupt long-standing cross-border production arrangements."
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