Back in April the IMF said world growth would be a chunky 6% this year and it has left that forecast unchanged. The outlook for advanced countries has improved while that for emerging market economies has deteriorated. The explanation for the rift is simple: rich countries have the financial power to support their economies through the crisis while poor countries do not. Poorer countries are less fortunate, which is why their vaccine programmes lag well behind those in advanced countries and, in some cases, have barely begun at all. Rich countries don’t really need their share of a recently agreed $650bn allocation of IMF special drawing rights, which boost the reserve assets of member countries.

Source: The Guardian July 27, 2021 13:20 UTC