The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting a somewhat less severe recession than it predicted in June.

The change in the outlook applies to both the global economy and the UK.

But the IMF says in its World Economic Outlook that the global economy is still in deep recession and the risk of a worse outcome than in its new forecast is “sizable”.

For Britain, the IMF now predicts the economy will decline by 9.8% this year. The June forecast was 10.2%.

However, the rebound expected next year is also more moderate. In the case of the UK, that downgrade is similar to the upgrade for this year.

The contraction the IMF predicts for 2020 in Britain would be the second deepest fall among the G7 group of largest rich economies. Only Italy is predicted to do worse.

Source: BBC (https://www.bbc.com/)