TEHRAN – The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest World Outlook Report titled “The Great Lockdown”, sees the global economic growth at -3 percent following the coronavirus outbreak.

The body has downgraded its previous forecast published in January 2020 by 6.3 percent.

According to the report, following this global trend, Iran’s economic growth is seen to be -6 percent, while the economic growth is expected to recover up to 3.1 percent in 2021.

The fund also predicted inflation in Iran to reach 34.2 percent for the current year, however, it sees the inflation rate to fall to 33.5 percent in the next year.

The body has reported that the “Great Lockdown” recession is going to be the biggest in almost a century and warned the world economy’s contraction and recovery would be worse than anticipated if the coronavirus lingers or returns.

Based on the report, all the countries around the world, including the advanced economies as well as the developing countries are going to be hit by the economic consequences of the pandemic.

The IMF also forecasted the oil prices to stay under the $50 range for the next three years, saying that the oil prices in the current year would linger around $35 per barrel.

EF/MA