World economy 'to shrink in 2009'
World economy 'to shrink in 2009'
The global economy is expected to shrink by 0.5 -1% in 2009. Despite a fiscal stimulus, developed countries will suffer decline between 3 -3.5% in 2009 and a slight growth between 0 -0.5% in 2010, according to the IMF. The G20 countries are adding 1.8% of GDP ($780bn) to boost growth, while the EU countries- only 1%. The UK will have the biggest fiscal deficit amongst all the G20 countries and it will amount to 11% of GDP by 2010. Japan will decline by 5.8% in 2009, the eurozone -by 3.2%, and the US by 2.6%. For the Eastern Europe countries which include the Baltic's, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria the decline also will be harsh and these countries will suffer the biggest turn down because there are not able to secure external finance which comes from developed countries. The Eastern Asian countries have been already hit by a big decline in trade as they rely mainly on manufacturing exports specifically in the IT sector.
BBC News-03/19/2009