The International Monetary Fund has projected the global economy would shrink by 3% in 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic.

This was stated by IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath while talking to reporters in Washington as she released the latest report about World Economy.

She said the downturn will slash 9 trillion US dollars from the world economy. If the virus is contained and economies can begin operating again, 2021 should see a rebound of 5.8 percent.

IMF warned that there are severe risks of a worse outcome due to the extreme uncertainty around the strength of the recovery.

The Great Lockdown as the IMF called the global downturn is the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.