GENEVA, Oct 6 — Global trade, devastated by the coronavirus crisis, will shrink by less than expected this year but the rebound will also be much weaker than previously forecast, the WTO said today.
Revising its prior forecast of at least a 12.9-per cent contraction in 2020, the World Trade Organisation said it now expected global trade to contract by just 9.2 per cent this year.
But it will then grow by only 7.2 per cent next year, rather than the previous estimate of 21.3 per cent, 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. — AFP
