WASHINGTON, DC - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the global economy is projected to grow by 5.5 per cent in 2021, and 4.2 per cent in 2022.

Although recent vaccine approvals have raised hopes of a turnaround in the pandemic later this year, renewed waves and new variants of the virus pose concerns for the outlook, it added in the latest World Economic Outlook Update released on Tuesday (local time).

The 2021 forecast is revised up 0.3 percentage points relative to the previous forecast, reflecting expectations of a vaccine-powered strengthening of activity later in the year and additional policy support in a few large economies.

The projected growth recovery this year follows a severe collapse in 2020 that has had acute adverse impacts on women, youth, the poor, the informally employed and those who work in contact-intensive sectors.

The global growth contraction for 2020 is estimated at minus 3.5 per cent, 0.9 percentage point higher than projected in the previous forecast (reflecting stronger-than-expected momentum in the second half of 2020).

The strength of the recovery is projected to vary significantly across countries, depending on access to medical interventions, effectiveness of policy support, exposure to cross-country spillovers and structural characteristics entering the crisis.

"Policy actions should ensure effective support until the recovery is firmly underway, with an emphasis on advancing key imperatives of raising potential output, ensuring participatory growth that benefits all, and accelerating the transition to lower carbon dependence," said the IMF.

As noted in the October 2020 World Economic Outlook, a green investment push coupled with initially moderate but steadily rising carbon prices would yield needed emissions reductions while supporting the recovery from the pandemic recession.

The IMF said strong multilateral cooperation is required to bring the pandemic under control everywhere. Such efforts include bolstering funding for the COVAX facility to accelerate access to vaccines for all countries, ensuring universal distribution of vaccines and facilitating access to therapeutics at affordable prices for all.

Many countries, particularly low-income developing economies, entered the crisis with high debt that is set to rise further during the pandemic. The global community will need to continue working closely to ensure adequate access to international liquidity for these countries.

Where sovereign debt is unsustainable, said the IMF, eligible countries should work with creditors to restructure their debt under the Common Framework agreed by the G20. (ANI)