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REGIONAL
MACROECONOMIC LANDSCAPE THE GLOBAL ECONOMY The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that the global economy contracted by 3.2% in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Advanced economies contracted by 4.7% while Emerging and Developing Economies contracted by 2.4%. The United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), and Canada experienced 3.5%, 10%, and 5.4% contraction, respectively. The growth outturn for Emerging and 25
Developing Economies is skewed. If China’s growth outturn for the period of 2.3% is removed, the economic contraction is far greater for this group. After a tepid 2019 growth of just 0.2%, Latin America and Caribbean economies were hard hit by the disease and growth contracted by 6.1%. Despite fallout in revenues occasioned by economic contraction, many governments maintained or increased spending to help cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on households and businesses. There was a reliance on debt financing to fund the budget, resulting in increased global debt levels in
