World economies may still be quarters away from recovering to their pre-pandemic levels.
Economies around the world may still be quarters away from recovering to their pre-pandemic levels, though the worst of the economic shock appears to be over, according to analysts at Amundi Asset Management.
“In our view, economic performance will progress along a gradual upward sloping catch-up process. In the central scenario, this translates into pre-COVID-19 levels not being reached before several quarters from now, on average,” the analysts wrote in a note CNBC reported. “The bottom has passed, but economies do not seem to be climbing out of it quickly enough to ensure a fast healing,” it continued. Following the losses seen in the first half of the year, the analysts warned that the recovery in the third quarter “does not seem to be enough to bring the majority of economies back to their pre-crisis levels any time soon.”
Amundi downgraded its economic forecast for 2020 and now expects global GDP to contract by between 3.5% and 4.7% as compared with the previous projection of a decline between 2.9% and 4.2%. Consequently, the GDP growth forecasts for next year were “mildly revised upwards” to between 4.4% to 5.7%, from 4.1% to 5.1% previously.
