In 2020: WTO eyes lower trade drop
People wearing protective face masks through Waterloo station during the morning rush hour, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, September 23, 2020. REUTERS
Global trade, devastated by the coronavirus crisis, will shrink by less than expected this year but the rebound will also be much weaker than the previous forecast, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Tuesday. Revising its prior forecast of at least a 12.9% contraction in 2020, the WTO said it now expected that the global trade will contract by just 9.2% this year. But it will then grow by only 7.2% next year, rather than the previous estimate of 21.3%, the WTO added. “World trade shows signs of bouncing back from a deep, Covid-19-induced slump, but WTO economists caution that any recovery could be disrupted by the ongoing pandemic effects,” the global trade body said in a statement.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2020.
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