World economy in 2022: the big factors to watch closely

Will 2022 be the year where the world economy recovers from the pandemic? That’s the big question on everyone’s lips as the festive break comes to an end.

One complicating factor is that most of the latest major forecasts were published in the weeks before the omicron variant swept the world. At that time, the mood was that recovery was indeed around the corner, with the IMF projecting 4.9% growth in 2022 and the OECD projecting 4.5%. These numbers are lower than the circa 5% to 6% global growth expected to have been achieved in 2021, but that represents the inevitable rebound from reopening after the pandemic lows of 2020.

So what difference will omicron make to the state of the economy? We already know that it had an effect in the run-up to Christmas, with for example UK hospitality taking a hit as people stayed away from restaurants. For the coming months, the combination of raised restrictions, cautious consumers and people taking time off sick is likely to take its toll.

Yet the fact that the new variant seems milder than originally feared is likely to mean that restrictions are lifted more quickly and that the economic effect is more moderate than it might have been. Israel and Australia, for example, are already loosening restrictions despite high case numbers. At the same time, however, until the west tackles very low vaccination rates in some parts of the world, don’t be surprised if another new variant brings further damage to both public health and the world economy.

Συνέχεια εδώ

Πηγή: theconversation.com