WASHINGTON: The spread of COVID-19 vaccines will power a stronger global economic recovery in 2021, the International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday.
After sinking 3.5 percent in 2020, the worst year since World War II, the global economy will grow 5.5 percent this year, the 190-country lending organization predicted. The new figure for 2021 is an upgrade from the 5.2 percent expansion the IMF forecast in October and would mark the fastest year of global growth since the 2010 snapback from the financial crisis.
The vaccines should contain the spread of the virus and allow governments around the world to ease lockdowns and encourage a return to normal economic activity. But the IMF also says economies worldwide will need support from their governments to offset the damage from the pandemic and warns that coronavirus mutations could cloud the outlook for global health and economic growth.
In an update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said that it expects the US economy — the world’s biggest — to expand 5.1 percent this year after collapsing 3.4 percent in 2020. No. 2 China is expected to record 8.1 percent growth after eking out a 2.3 percent increase in 2020.
The 19 countries European countries that share the euro currency will collectively register 4.2 percent growth this year after seeing economic output crater 7.2 percent in 2020, the IMF says. The Japanese economy is forecast to grow 3.1 percent, reversing a 5.1 percent decline in 2020.
The IMF gave India a big upgrade, thanks to a faster-than-expected recovery at its factories and farms: The Indian economy is forecast to expand 11.5 percent in 2021, fastest among major economies, and a turnaround from 2020’s decline of 8 percent.
The agency also expects global trade to rebound this year: recording 8.1 percent growth after falling 9.6 percent last year.
IMF: Coronavirus vaccines will power 5.5% global economic growth in 2021
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IMF: Coronavirus vaccines will power 5.5% global economic growth in 2021
- The vaccines should contain the spread of the virus and allow governments around the world to ease lockdowns
Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick appointed Meta president and vice chairman
- The former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official previously served on Meta’s board of directors
- Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a child, joins the management team and will help guide overall strategy and execution
LONDON: Meta has appointed Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman.
The company said on Monday that the former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official, who previously served on Meta’s board of directors, is stepping up into a senior leadership role as the company accelerates its push into artificial intelligence and global infrastructure.
Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a young girl, will join the management team and help guide its overall strategy and execution. She will work closely with Meta’s Compute and infrastructure teams, the company said, overseeing multi-billion-dollar investments in data centers, energy systems and global connectivity, while building new strategic capital partnerships.
“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s president and vice chairman,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Powell McCormick has more than 25 years of experience in finance, national security and economic development. She spent 16 years as a partner at Goldman Sachs in senior leadership roles, and served two US presidents, including stints as deputy national security adviser to Donald Trump, and a senior State Department official under George W. Bush.
Most recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
