World Bank predicts 'sharp slowdown' for global economy this year despite improvement

The anti-poverty organisation said that “last year’s sharp and synchronized slowdown to continue to this year into a sharp slowdown,” AP reported.

Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist, said, “By the end of next year, a third of the developing world will not meet the per-capita income level that they had at the end of 2019.”

Despite this grim forecast, the bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report highlights an improvement from its last forecast in January of just 1.7% this year.

The Federal Reserve of the US and other major central banks have taken a proactive stance by raising interest rates to counter the resurgence of inflation triggered by a robust post-pandemic economic recovery, persistent supply shortages, and shocks in energy and food prices resulting from the Ukraine conflict.

But the global economy has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of higher borrowing costs, and the World Bank predicts that growth will accelerate to 2.4% in 2024.

Following the relaxation of strict zero-COVID policies by Beijing, the World Bank has revised its outlook for China in 2023, anticipating a higher growth rate.

The world's second-largest economy is now projected to expand by 5.6% in 2023, compared to 3% growth recorded last year.

Conversely, the World Bank expects Japan's growth to decelerate, with a projected growth rate of 0.8% in 2023 compared to 1% in 2022.

India's growth is forecasted to moderate to 6.3% in 2023 from 7.2% in the previous year, although it is still expected to remain robust.

World Bank foresees a sharp drop in the price of energy and other commodities this year and next.

The bank forecasts a marked slowdown in global trade this year.