The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees very grim prospects for both the global economy and the economy of the Eurozone. For the year 2009 the IWF forecasts the European economy to shrink by 3.2 %. The global economy is expected to decrease for the first time in 60 years by between 0.5% and 1%.
The G7 states are said to go through „by far“ the deepest recession since the end of world war II. For the USA the forecast is -3.2 % and for Japan -5.6 %.
According to the analysts of the IWF, a slight recovery of the economy would take place in the year 2010 only. For 2010 the economy of the USA is expected to grow by +0.2 %, that of the Eurozone by +0.1 %. Japan’s economy, however, may even shrink by 0.2% in 2010 as well. The global economy is said to grow by between 1.5% and 2.5% in 2010. 