The World Bank issued its latest forecast for the global economy and predicted that the worldwide recession will be deeper than many expected. The bank said that unemployment and poverty will continue to rise in developing nations and predicted a 2.9 percent contraction in the global economy for all of 2009. That is a greater drop than the bank’s prior estimate of a 1.7 percent decline.
For next year, the bank predicts that growth will return. It expects that 2010 will see worldwide growth of 2 percent, which is less than its last prediction of 2.3 percent. The bank was formed after World War II to fund health and development projects in poor countries and monitors worldwide economic trends. It noted that while a recovery may begin in 2009, it will take less-established and poorer economies longer to get back on solid footing.
The World Bank is more pessimistic than its fellow global economic institution, the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. The IMF has estimated that the global contraction will be 1.3 percent for 2009 and growth in 2010 will be 2.4 percent. It also released a statement recently saying it plans to revise those numbers slightly upwards.
