World economic growth will be "slightly" weaker than expected this year, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Tuesday, concerned about inequalities between countries, with the poorest affected by the lack of vaccines.
"We are faced with a global recovery that continues to be hampered by the pandemic and its impact," Georgieva said in a speech in Milan, released in advance, days before the fall meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
In July, the IMF revised upward its forecast for world economic growth to 6% in 2021, but that was before the impact of the Delta variant was felt around the world.
The Washington-based institution will publish next week updated world economic forecasts at the opening of its annual meetings, forecasts that are usually preceded by a speech by the IMF's leader to preview some outlines.
The United States and China, the main economic powers, remain "the key drivers of growth, despite a slowdown in their momentum," Georgieva noted.
Some advanced and emerging economies continue to grow, "like Italy and, more broadly, Europe."
On the other hand, "in many other countries, growth continues to worsen, hampered by poor access to vaccines and limited policy response, particularly in low-income countries," he said.
The divergence in recovery leads to advanced economies returning to pre-pandemic levels "by 2022," while most emerging and developing countries "will take years to recover" from the crisis caused in the spring of 2020 by the covid-19 pandemic.
According to the IMF leader, the longer the recovery takes, the greater the long-term impact in these countries, especially in terms of job losses, which particularly affect young people, women and undeclared workers.
For Georgieva, the most immediate obstacle is "the big fracture in vaccines," with many countries still lacking access to them, "leaving many people without protection against covid-19."
He also called on governments to speed up reforms to ensure a transition to a green economy that creates new jobs.
Lusa Agency